San Marcos Mill Tract

Before he built his mill here, Burleson had a hand in founding the capital. In the spring of 1838 he laid out the town of Waterloo, the first settlement of what became Austin, and on October 17, 1839, he commanded the ceremonies establishing Austin as the capital of the Republic. When Mexican troops under Rafael Vasquez invaded in 1842, volunteers at San Antonio elected him to command, and on handing the command to Alexander Somervell he made his speech before the Alamo: "though Thermopolae had her messenger of defeat, the Alamo had none."

What the plaque says

San Marcos Mill Tract Located on land that was granted to Juan M. de Veramendi in 1831, this tract was purchased by edward Burleson (1793-1851) in 1844. A native of North Carolina, burleson moved to Texas in 1830, settling first in Bastrop county. He commanded forces at the battle of San Jacinto and later participated in the Cherokee War in East Texas. He served as congressman, senator, and vice-president of the Republic of Texas, but was defeated by Anson Jones in a bid for presidency. Later, when Texas became a state, he served in both the House of Representatives and Senate. Burleson moved his family to the valley of the San Marcos River in the late 1840s. Here he built the first dam on the river to provide power for a grist mill and sawmill. What became known in later land transactions as the "Mill Tract" evolved into the center of commercial enterprise for the town of San Marcos. following Burleson's early operation, a cotton gin, three ice factories, a water works, and an electric plant were built in the area. San Marcos early industrial park continued to have a steady economic impact on the town for over a century. Although no longer an industrial site, the Mill Tract is a reminder of the area's rich history. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Spring Lake and the Meadows Center — 0.4 mi
  The headsprings of the San Marcos River, among the longest-inhabited places in North America, once an amusement park with a swimming pig and now seen from glass-bottom boats.
• Gruene Historic District — 15 mi
  A cotton town on the Guadalupe that the boll weevil emptied, rescued in the 1970s by a kayaking architecture student, with a dance hall that says it has never closed.
• Lockhart Courthouse Square — 16 mi
  A cotton-era courthouse town named the Barbecue Capital of Texas, built near the 1840 Plum Creek fight that followed the killing of Comanche leaders at peace talks.
• Sophienburg Museum and Archives — 17 mi
  The hilltop where Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels raised the Adelsverein's headquarters in 1845, now the museum and archive of the German colony that became New Braunfels.

More markers nearby

• San Marcos Springs — 0.4 mi
• Site of Hays County's First Public Building — 0.4 mi
• William W. Moon — 0.4 mi
• Founding of the First Methodist Church — 0.6 mi