Winters’ Mill lay in a secluded valley but not an isolated one. When the Civil War raged through the South, the community contributed to the Confederacy’s efforts by making charcoal on the banks of the Blanco and by hauling tons of bat guano from local caves and packing it, along with the charcoal, on mules to Austin. Potassium nitrate was extracted from the guano and mixed with other ingredients to make gun powder for the Confederate Army.

Winters died in 1864, and his mill complex was passed down to John Cude, his son-in-law. Cude rebuilt the mill which had been flood damaged, and the settlement became known as Cude’s Mill.

In the 1870s, Pleasant Wimberley moved with his family from Blanco County to Cude’s Mill. “Old Man Pleas” as he was called, was a generous man. He has been described as one of Wimberley’s first nonprofit organizations as he failed to notice when some of the poorer folks in town helped themselves to the mill’s toll box. He contributed to the community’s schools and churches.

When Wimberley bought the mill from Cude, the town changed its name again to Wimberley’s Mill. In 1880, the name “Wimberleyville” was submitted to the post office which dropped the “ville” from the name, and the town became Wimberley. By the time Pleasant acquired the business, the mills had grown to include a grist mill, a buhrstone flour mill, a saw mill, and a shingle mill. Wimberley later added a cotton gin. The mills were passed down through the Wimberley family and sold to John Will Pyland, an in-law, in 1907. By 1912, the creek could no longer power the mill and Hick Wimberley installed a 20 horsepower engine. The mill ceased operation in 1925.