Berg's Mill Community

Berg's Mill Community. . The San Antonio River Provided Power for mills that lined its banks from the headwater springs north of town to Mission Espada, a short distance south of here. Several mills built near this site, beginning in the middle 1800s, became the center of a small community known as Berg's Mill for millers Henry and Louis Berg. After the Berg brothers lost their wool mill and cotton gin to foreclosure in 1889, the buildings were leased to Gustave Hellemans and the settlement was briefly called Hellemans. The area's mills closed by the 1920s as a result of drought, devastating floods, economic downturns and competition. The flowing river was then used to power two small hydroelectric plants, one built on the foundation of the Berg brothers' mill. The Berg's Mill community boasted a railroad station, post office, grocery store, movie theater and school in the early 1930s. The population dwindled to fewer than one hundred residents by 1940, and within a few years Berg's Mill was no longer shown on area maps. Today a single stone ruin is the only reminder of the long milling history of the community still known informally as Berg's Mill., Captions , Lower Left: The "old mill" designated on this 1888 map (top) may be the remains of the Higginbotham and Kerr mill built in the 1840s and later renovated and leased to Henry and Louis Berg. It is possible that the stone structure still standing today (above) is part of this early mill. The Berg's Mill store and San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad station are shown below the river on the map. The wool mill was advertised in local newspapers during the 1880s., Upper Right: In the 1930s, the Berg's Mill community consisted of residences and businesses scattered in the area surrounding Mission San Juan. In addition to mills, the community included this store (left), a railroad station, post office and movie theater (below)., Source "Plat of Berg's Property near San Juan Mission" Courtesy: Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library at the Alamo , Courtesy: Light Collection, Universary of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections , Source: San Antonio Daily Express, September 2, 1885. Courtesy: Hearst Corporation