The Medallion, Volume 48, Number 5-6, May/June 2011 Page: 14
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Legendary Landmark
Castroville Historic Site Hosted Travelers
and a Pioneering Mill SystemMotorists traveling through Castroville
on U.S. Hwy. 90 might catch a glimpse
of a cluster of historic structures
and wonder what they represent. If
they stopped, they would find that
the limestone buildings contain
compelling stories from centuries past,
with connections to early settlers and
innovative milling techniques.
The structures comprise the
Landmark Inn State Historic Site, one
of the Texas Historical Commission's
(THC) 20 historic properties. Situated
on the west bank of the Medina River,
Landmark Inn tells the real stories
of the region's early settlers and
significant buildings.
The center of the site's activity
is the namesake inn. Constructed in
1849 by French-Alsatian immigrant
Cesar Monod, the structure was built
with a rear-detached kitchen and was
originally used as a home and a dry
goods store. In 1850, John Vance
purchased the building and enlarged it
by adding a second story and a two-
tiered porch. Vance
opened the site to
weary travelers
on the adjacent
San Antonio-
El PasoRoad; over time, it became known as
Vance Inn.
In 1861, Vance built a house
between the inn and the Medina River,
which served as his residence until
his death in 1899.
Vance also constructed
a bathhouse in the
courtyard, which
provided the only -t
man-made bathing
facility between San
Antonio and Eagle Pass
at the time.
In 1854, Vance
sold frontage property
along the Medina
River to George L.
Haass and Laurent
Quintle to build
a gristmill. To
Landmark Inn ex
harness the river's
the site's former ro
water power, regional mill.
Haass and Quintle
constructed a 250-foot
long, 8-foot high dam. To this day, the
original dam spans the Medina River.
At the west end of the dam was a
water-flow entry gate, which included a
lifting mechanism similar in operation
to a car jack. A long metal bar was the
"handle," and the gate slid vertically
into a slot. When the mill was in
operation, the gate would be opened,
and water flowed from the dam into
the first stage of the site's pioneering
mill operation.
"One of the most interesting
features of the mill is a 400-foot longvhibi
ole astunnel known as a headrace, which
channeled water from the dam to the
mill," explains Jose Zapata, Landmark
Inn site manager. "Underground
headraces were extremely rare,
especially one this
long and dug
entirely by hand."
Zapata adds that
a 45-foot long bypass
tunnel on the east
side of the headrace
diverted and regulated
water flow and also
helped remove debris.
Water then moved
from the headrace into
the mill pit, a stone
structure that by the
early 20th century
contained a working
its showcase
s an importantsteel turbine. The force
of the water surging
from the headrace into
the mill pit turned the turbine, which
was connected by a series of belts and
pulleys to machinery inside the mill.
The water then exited the mill pit and
rejoined the the river downstream.
"The entire system used to power
the mill was a tremendous engineering
feat for its time," Zapata says. "We
encourage people to get out of their
cars and visit the site to get a first-
hand look at the history of this
impressive operation."
This article was written by Thomas Kroemer of the
Landmark Inn staffwww.thc.state.tx.us
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Texas Historical Commission. The Medallion, Volume 48, Number 5-6, May/June 2011, periodical, May 2011; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth309007/m1/14/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Commission.