Mission Valley Mill (Some of it's History)

As of right now I have been inside the abandoned textile mill in New Braunfels a total of two times. Although I'm not so sure the second time should count because I was inside for only a few seconds.

I realize that doesn't sound like much but I plan on changing that. Very soon, in fact. I'm planning a trip for tomorrow, June 26th.

The mill was built over a hundred years ago and had, at one time, over a 1,000 employees working from start to finish. Cleaning cotton, weaving fabrics, and printing designs. In a testing lab machines would stretch fabric for up to two days to test durability.

A Mrs. Carmen Vela worked at the mill for more than fifteen years, starting in the mid-1980's. Mrs. Vela kept a scrapbook containing photos documenting the entire plant process.

(Note: I've tried to contact Mrs. Vela and her husband, by letter, in order to get an interview and possibly take photos of them and the scrapbook. So far they haven't responded.)

The mill's name has changed over time; from Planter's and Merchant's Mill, which was changed to New Braunfels Textile Mill, then changed to Mission Valley Mill and finally West Point Pepperell.

(Note: I've taken to calling it "Mission Valley Mill." On the Reata Real Estate website it is referred to as "River Mill")

I was first told about the mill by a friend. Several months later I started looking for the current owner of Mission Valley Mill. It took several phone calls and emails but honestly, I love the search.

At one point I ended up calling Mr. Peter Serebrenik who was, at one point, the owner of the mill. He directed me to Reata Realtors who are the current owners of the main part of the mill. I sent a message to Don Thomas and after a couple emails he said he would unlock the mill for me.

April 28th, 2017 was my first trip exploring and taking photos of the mill. You can see a lot of these photos by going to "Mission Valley Mill in the Locations part of this website.

Sources:

Taylor, B. (2014, August 3) On clearance: Old textile mill heading to auction. Retrieved from http://herald-zeitung.com/business/article_001b52b4-1ad8-11e4-a1a0-0019bb2963f4.html

Goff, M. (2012, June 12) Faust Street bridge led to mill. Retrieved from http://sophienburg.com/blog/?p=1872

Salinas, R. (2014, August 18) Items from historic New Braunfels mill up for auction. Retrieved from http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/Items-from-historic-mill-up-for-auction-5677212.php

Jakle, J. (2010, October 5) Lara Flynn Boyle’s S.A. life coming to TV? E! orders reality pilot. Retrieved from http://blog.mysanantonio.com/jakle06/2010/10/lara-flynn-boyles-s-a-life-coming-to-tv-e-orders-reality-pilot/

http://www.reatarealestate.com/properties/river-mill-redevelopment/