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== Geography == Located in West [[Central Texas]] near the center of the state, Mills County incorporates portions of the Limestone Cut Plain and Western Cross Timber subregions of the Cross Plains ecoregion.<ref name=":6" /><ref>{{Citation |publisher=U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |location=Corvallis, Oregon, U.S. |last1=Griffith |first1=G.E.|last2=Bryce |first2=S.A. |last3=Omernik |first3=J.M. |last4=Comstock |first4=J.A. |last5=Rogers|first5= A.C. |last6=Harrison|first6=B |last7=Hatch |first7=S.L. |last8=Bezanson |first8=D |date=2004 |title=Ecoregions of Texas |url=http://ecologicalregions.info/data/tx/tx_eco_pg.pdf |access-date=December 2, 2022 |work=EcologicalRegions.info}}</ref><ref name=":39">{{Cite book |title=From Hell to Breakfast |publisher=Southern Methodist University Press |year=1967 |editor-last=Boatright |editor-first=Mody C. |edition=Facsimile |location=Dallas |publication-date=1967 |chapter=The Threshing Crew |oclc=327021 |editor-last2=Day |editor-first2=Donald}}</ref> According to the [[U.S. Census Bureau]], the county has a total area of {{convert|750|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|748|sqmi}} is land and {{convert|1.5|sqmi}} (0.2%) is water.<ref name="GR1">{{cite web |date=August 22, 2012 |title=2010 Census Gazetteer Files |url=http://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/countieslist48.txt |access-date=May 4, 2015 |publisher=United States Census Bureau}}</ref> Elevation varies from 1,200 to 1,750 feet.<ref name=":6" /> The [[Colorado River]] marks the county's distinctive southwestern border and creates three fertile farming valleys: Big Valley, Jones Valley, and Hanna Valley.<ref name=":6" /> The [[Pecan Bayou (Colorado River tributary)|Pecan Bayou]] enters the western part of the county from Brown County then flows east and south towards the Colorado River; Blanket and Brown creeks unite into the Pecan Bayou along the way.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":9" /> From west to east, the following streams drain into the Colorado River: Comanche Creek, Buffalo Creek, Rough Creek, King Creek, Pecan Bayou, Prescott Creek, Bull Creek, Nabors Creek, and Shaw Creek.<ref name=":9" /> North and South Bennett Creeks and Simms Creek, all in the eastern part of the county, drain into the [[Lampasas River]].<ref name=":9" /> The northern parts of the county have Mountain Creek, Cowhouse Creek, and Washboard Creek that eventually drain into the [[Brazos River]].<ref name=":9" /> The county's topography features low, broken hills.<ref name=":39" /> The Cowhouse Mountains, which are part of an extensive range of hills located in the Lampasas Cut Plain, cross the county from the southeast to the northwest.<ref name=":11" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jordan |first=Terry G. |date=1970 |title=The Texan Appalachia |journal=Annals of the Association of American Geographers |volume=60 |issue=3 |pages=409β427 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-8306.1970.tb00732.x |jstor=2561667 |issn=0004-5608}}</ref> One part of the Cowhouse range enters the county north of [[Star, Texas|Star]] and leaves the county north of [[Priddy, Texas|Priddy]]; another part of Cowhouse enters the county near Moline before taking a northwesterly exit into Comanche County.<ref name=":9" /> San Saba Peak, at a height of 1,712 feet, is a prominent mountain in the county and was named in 1732 by Don Juan Antonio Bustillo y Cevallos, Spanish Governor of Texas.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":26" /> Central Texas, which includes Mills County, contains some of the oldest rocks in the state.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sheldon |first=Robert A. |title=Roadside geology of Texas |date=1979 |publisher=Mountain Press Pub., Co |isbn=0-87842-103-3 |location=Missoula, Mont. |oclc=4774682}}</ref> The county has a variety of soils, including gray [[loam]]s, sandy dark and stone [[clay]], and [[Alluvium|alluvia]] in the bottom lands, and black wax on the prairies.<ref name=":6" /> Very shallow to deep, loamy, and clayey soils and their sub-varieties make up the bulk of the county.<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |last=Clower |first=Dennis F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NksIf3l2eQoC |title=Soil Survey of Brown and Mills Counties, Texas |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, in Cooperation with Texas Agricultural Experiment Station |year=1980}}</ref> Plentiful limestone, sand, and gravel are used for road construction.<ref name=":8" /> Native timbers include [[Quercus fusiformis|live oak]] (entire county), [[Quercus stellata|post oak]] (entire county), [[Quercus falcata|Spanish oak]] (Grand Prairie Region), [[eastern cottonwood]] (along streams), [[shinnery oak]] (Cowhouse Mountains Region), [[mesquite]] (concentrated in western county), [[pecan]] (along streams), and [[Cedar (plant)|cedar]].<ref name=":9" /> [[Cactus]] varieties typically grow in the Cross Timbers Region.<ref name=":9" /> Dominant trees and shrubs include [[ashe juniper]] (''[[Juniperus ashei]]'' J. Bucholz), escarpment live oak (''[[Quercus fusiformis]]'' Small), and the deciduous shrub, honey mesquite (''[[Prosopis glandulosa]]'' Torr).<ref name=":18">{{Cite journal |last1=Rhodes |first1=Edward C. |last2=Angerer |first2=Jay P. |last3=Fox |first3=William E. |last4=McAlister |first4=Jason R. |date=2021-09-01 |title=Woody Vegetation Cover, Attrition, and Patch Metrics over Eight Decades in Central Texas, United States |journal=Rangeland Ecology & Management |series=Great Plains |language=en |volume=78 |pages=54β66 |doi=10.1016/j.rama.2021.05.006 |s2cid=237653716 |issn=1550-7424|doi-access=free}}</ref> A member of the Cypress family, Ashe juniper is one of six species of the ''[[Juniperus]]'' genus that grow in Texas, but it is the only one that grows in the Hill Country, including Mills County, where it is concentrated in the southern region.<ref name=":19">{{Cite web |title=Ashe Juniper |url=https://txmn.org/alamo/area-resources/natural-areas-and-linear-creekways-guide/the-ashe-juniper/ |access-date=2022-12-03 |website=txmn.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=June 9, 2016 |title=Forest Distribution β Juniper: an Analysis of Where the Forests are in Texas |url=https://texasforestinfo.tamu.edu/ForestDistribution/docs/JuniperStatewide.pdfhttps://texasforestinfo.tamu.edu/ForestDistribution/docs/JuniperStatewide.pdf |access-date=December 28, 2022 |website=Texas A&M First Service}}</ref> It is the most plentiful native tree growing in the county and has existed in the area for thousands of years.<ref name=":19" /> Both Ashe juniper and honey mesquite are considered to be invasive trees in the area.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Berg |first1=Matthew D. |last2=Sorice |first2=Michael G. |last3=Wilcox |first3=Bradford P. |last4=Angerer |first4=Jay P. |last5=Rhodes |first5=Edward C. |last6=Fox |first6=William E. |date=2015-07-01 |title=Demographic Changes Drive Woody Plant Cover TrendsβAn Example from the Great Plains |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550742415000809 |journal=Rangeland Ecology & Management |language=en |volume=68 |issue=4 |pages=315β321 |doi=10.1016/j.rama.2015.05.004 |s2cid=83560182 |issn=1550-7424}}</ref> The county flower is the [[Ipomopsis rubra|Texas Plume Standing Cypress]].<ref name=":6" /> === Adjacent counties === * [[Brown County, Texas|Brown County]] (northwest) * [[Comanche County, Texas|Comanche County]] (north) * [[Hamilton County, Texas|Hamilton County]] (northeast) * [[Lampasas County, Texas|Lampasas County]] (southeast) * [[San Saba County, Texas|San Saba County]] (southwest)
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