History of Trinity Mills: From Gristmill to Community
Revised by: Laurie E. Jasinski
Published: 1952
Updated: January 30, 2024
Trinity Mills was on the Elm Fork of the Trinity River two miles northwest of Carrollton in northwest Dallas County. The site was on the land grant of A. W. Perry. It was settled in 1853 and originally named Witt's Mill for a gristmill owned by brothers Preston and Wade H. Witt and A. W. Perry. Perry sold his interest in the mill, and the Witt brothers continued its operation through the 1850s. A local post office was established in 1858 and was discontinued and reopened four times before its termination in 1915. By 1860 James M. Kennedy had become a full partner in Trinity Mills, which also had a store.
In 1878 the Dallas-Wichita Railroad was constructed through Trinity Mills, and the community subsequently developed as a cattle-shipping center. Three years later it had a general store, a physician, a druggist, and twenty-six farmers. By 1884 the community had a population of 150, two churches, a school, and a Western Union telegraph office. Six years later Trinity Mills had a population of fifty, a nursery, a mineral-water dealer, a safe business, and a farm import business. By 1915 the community had declined to two stores, and in 1930 the population stood at thirty-five. Trinity Mills subsequently became part of Carrollton.
Bibliography:
Steven R. Butler, “Pioneer Personified: The Life and Times of Capt. Preston Witt,” Legacies: A History Journal for Dallas and North Central Texas 11 (Fall 1999). Georgia Myers Ogle, comp., Elm Fork Settlements: Farmers Branch and Carrollton (Quanah?, Texas: Nortex, 1977).
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.
Matthew Hayes Nall Revised by Laurie E. Jasinski, “Trinity Mills, TX,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed May 19, 2026, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/trinity-mills-tx.
TID:
HVT59
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- 1952
- January 30, 2024
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