Editing Mills County, Texas (section)

== Communities ==
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* Bethel - one of a trio of towns located near each other that also included North Bennett and Liveoak<ref name=":1" />
* Big Valley - located near the Colorado River in the southwestern part of the county; once in Lampasas County; settled as early as 1859; divided into Upper Big Valley and Lower Big Valley; since the early 1870s, identified as the "backbone" of Mills County agricultural production;<ref name=":6" /> upper and lower valley schools consolidated about 1921, when a new school building was erected; post office discontinued in the early 1900s; known as the "Gateway to San Saba County"; citizens left the lower valley in the early 1940s when the land became a one-thousand acre pecan orchard owned by the Leonard Brothers<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":1" />
* Bull's Creek - an early settlement started by James (Jim) Bull near the eponymous creek south of Goldthwaite around 1859; its school was started in 1899 before consolidating with Fairview to form Cedar Knob in 1917; it also had a cemetery<ref name=":1" />
* Caradan - originally known as "Lookout";<ref name=":6" /> established in 1898 and named after Sam Caraway and Dan Bush, both early settlers; Lookout School built around 1878;<ref name=":6" /> Live Oak School District recognized in 1888;<ref name=":6" /> Midway School was the result of the consolidation of North Bennett and Gray in 1913, consolidated with Goldthwaite in 1947<ref name=":1" />
* Cedar Knob - early settlers were W.N. Sullivan and A.C. Sullivan, sheep farmers; schoolhouse erected that also served as church and prompted renaming the community "Fairview"; school consolidated with Bull's Creek and called "Cedar Knob" before finally consolidating with Goldthwaite<ref name=":6" />
* Center City - located ten miles east of Goldthwaite and first known as Hughes Store. It was named for an old oak tree, "center oak," that an 1870s survey identified as the center of Texas.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":1" /> The first Justice Court proceedings, presided over by Judge J.P. Grundy, were carried out between 1887 and 1890 under the tree before Mills County formed.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":1" /> The tree also furnished shade for the first school classes.<ref name=":6" /> In the early 1870s, many expected Center City to be named county seat as a logical choice based on its history as a hub for freight and stage line.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":1" /> A town square plan was developed by Mr. and Mrs. Hughes that accommodated a courthouse, and eventually a list of businesses sprung up, including several saloons, a drug store, two blacksmith shops, a hotel, and several other stores.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":6" /> It was a centrally located resting point for postal carriers.<ref name=":6" /> Its first church was organized in 1875 and was used for school and lodge.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":1" /> During its peak, the population is estimated to have reach 1,000 citizens.<ref name=":6" /> Likewise, residents anticipated the railroad to pass through the town, but it did not.<ref name=":1" />
* Chappell Hill - an influx of settlers effected it being created out of the North Brown Community; an early member of the community was Mrs. B.T. Boydson, who moved there in 1893; mountainous part of the county; only schoolhouse constructed 1898–1899;<ref name=":6" />
* Chesser Valley - was located about six miles from Williams Ranch; named after John Dan Chesser; known for hosting camp meetings/revivals that attracted large groups that camped in nearby Live Oak groves; once had the largest school in Brown County with fifty students<ref name=":6" />
* Duren - located six miles northeast of Mullin; named after Philip David Duren, who first settled in Williams Ranch in 1876 but bought land where Duren would be located; in the 1870s through late 1880s, land owners in Duren would pay property taxes in three counties: Comanche, Brown and Mills; the school district was known as Pompey Mountain School District No. 6; two successive buildings served as the school (Duren School) and church (Pompey Mountain), and in 1961 a new church building opened.<ref name=":1" />
* Ebony - Originally in Brown County and located in the far western part of Mills County with the Colorado River as its southern border, Ebony's earliest settler was James Ransom Wilmeth, Sr.; settlers came in numbers starting in the mid-1870s; called "Buffalo Valley" until the post office arrived between 1891 and 1894, with the name "Ebony" supplied by the postal service (earlier, mail came from Regency);<ref name=":6" /> a series of schools starting with one located near Buffalo Creek and the Reeves School; those schools consolidated in 1912 and culminated with the construction of a new school that was built across from the cemetery; the school consolidated with Mullin in 1947 (or 1949);<ref name=":6" /> the community started declining in the late 1930s after it was claimed by Camp Bowie in Brownwood and used as a military training area.<ref name=":1" />
* [[Goldthwaite, Texas|Goldthwaite]]
* Hanna Valley - located near the Colorado River and established by David Hanna in 1854; first permanent settlement; Hanna assisted in starting Brown County; his daughter is thought to be the first white child born in would later become Mills County; it also hosted the first post office in the area in 1875.<ref name=":6" />
* Hogg -  organized by J.L. Spurlin and planned to be located nine miles from Center City, two miles from Lometa, and twelve miles from Goldthwaite<ref>{{Cite news |date=1896 |title=A New Town |work=The Mountain Eagle}}</ref>
* Jones Valley/Ratler - located west of Goldthwaite near the Colorado River; started growing around the 1900;<ref name=":1" /> had a school which consolidated with Goldthwaite;<ref name=":6" /> once the home of Willis Mill and associated vineyard.<ref name=":6" />
* Kelly - located near Pleasant Grove and eight miles southeast of Goldthwaite, Kelly was in Lampasas County before Mills County formed.<ref name=":1" /> Its only community building was a school, named after Dan Kelly and his son, Neal, that also served as a church known as "Sims Creek Baptist"; it burned in 1909 and was rebuilt the same year; later it was burned and rebuilt; school consolidated with Goldthwaite in the early 1940s.<ref name=":1" /> The community was also called "Polecat."<ref name=":1" />
* Lake Merritt - located about seven miles north of Goldthwaite with about 190 square acres of land;<ref name=":6" /> construction of the lake began in 1915 to supply water to the Santa Fe Railroad;<ref name=":6" /> the Lake Merritt School was built in 1919 and consolidated with North Brown and Cryer schools; in 1933 the school consolidated with Trigger Mountain school to establish the New Lake Merritt School<ref name=":1" />
* Liveoak - one of a trio of towns located near each other that also included North Bennett and Bethel; its school consolidated with Goldthwaite in 1940<ref name=":1" />
* Miller Grove - located about six miles southwest of Goldthwaite [or four and one-half miles northwest of Goldthwaite?], the community once had an eponymously named school, first name the "Hunt School."<ref name=":1" />
* Mount Olive - located about ten miles northeast of Goldthwaite;<ref name=":6" /> began developing around 1890 and named after John Neal, who was the first permanent settler in 1887;<ref name=":6" /> church building used as a school;<ref name=":6" /> its school consolidated with Goldthwaite in 1949.<ref name=":1" />
* [[Mullin, Texas|Mullin]]
* Nabors Creek - settled c. 1870;<ref name=":6" /> named after the sheepherder who settled it when it was in Lampasas County; bordered to the south and west by the Colorado River; first schoolhouse built around 1900; the school consolidated with Golthwaite in 1947<ref name=":1" />
* North Bennett - one of a trio of towns located near each other that also included Bethel and Liveoak; students from North Bennett attended Midway, which consolidated with Goldthwaite in 1947<ref name=":1" />
* Payne Gap - was located southeast of Goldthwaite; Barzilla Payne arrived in 1856 and established it after signing for pre-empted land in 1857;<ref name=":0" /> Payne was scalped by the Comanches in 1863.<ref name=":1" />
* Pleasant Grove - established around 1862 based on the arrival of its earliest known settler, Joe Curtis.<ref name=":1" /> The community had a school which was enlarged to three rooms in 1933–1934; it closed in 1946;<ref name=":6" /> a spring-fed pool called "Blue Hole" was a major center of pioneer life in the area.<ref name=":1" />
* [[Priddy, Texas|Priddy]]
* Regency
* Ridge - located about fifteen miles west of Goldthwaite and home to the "hanging tree," where a horse thief (Sebe Arnold) was hung; originally created by Mills County Commissioners court in 1888 as "Cold Springs"; began known as Ridge after the post office was established sometime between 1917 and 1920; a succession of four schoolhouses existed there, the final one built in 1931; much of the land was taken by Camp Bowie in Brownwood during WWII<ref name=":1" />
* Rock Springs - located five miles west of Goldthwaite and north of Hanna Valley Road, where five springs provided water; the first to settle there was John Tisdale in 1874; the last school building was built in 1894, and the school consolidated with Goldthwaite in 1946<ref name=":1" />
* Rye Valley - settled around 1881in an area bound to the south and southeast close to a horseshoe bend of the Colorado River; known for its fertile land and for the large rye grass the settlers found there; had a school, which burned once and moved several times in its history before locating centrally in 1919<ref name=":1" />
* Scallorn - originally called Antelope Gap and located in southern Mills County, originally in Lampasas County; had a schoolhouse, which burned in 1905 and rebuilt; school district was the Minor School District, which merged with Goldthwaite in 1937 before combining with Lometa in 1943; Antelope Gap named Scallorn after the post office arrived and name after "Gid" Scallorn, foreman of the C-Ranch, once the largest ranch in Mills County<ref name=":1" />
* South Bennett - established around 1870 and located about six miles southeast of Goldthwaite; named after South Bennett Creek; its school consolidated with Goldthwaite in the late 1930s; a jaguar was killed in 1903 near the community by Henry Morris, the only one killed in Mills County<ref name=":1" />
* [[Star, Texas|Star]]
* Tater Hill
* Trigger Mountain Community - located about five miles north of Goldthwaite near Trigger Mountain, which was named after Welcome Chandler's horse, "Trigger." Following an Indian attack, the horse was found on top of the mountain.<ref name=":0" /> Chandler would later become a founder of [[Brownwood, Texas|Brownwood]].<ref name=":0" /> The community had a church and school.<ref name=":0" />
* Washboard - named after the eponymous formation of Washboard Creek in northern Mills County, about three miles west of Indian Gap, Hamilton County; the first settlers arrived in the 1860s; in the mid-1930s, the school consolidated with Priddy<ref name=":1" />
* [[Williams Ranch, Texas|Williams Ranch]]