This mill complex on Pumpkinvine Creek comes in many, various names, depending who successively owned the mill(s). Empire Mill is but one name, others include: Williford, Milner, Jones & Amelia Mills. The mill’s exact location is unknown, but it is south of Emerson, at the end of a RR spur of the W & A railroad. And it is east of the Col. C.M. Jones plantation.

The mill produced many products over the years: ground grains (corn & wheat) and became a woolen mill at one point. As well, the famous Texas locomotive became the yard locomotive for the mill. The mill burned between 1905-1906.

Click here to read “Emerson’s Elusive Mill” by Joe Head