Anderson Mill

Anderson Mill, also known as Anderson’s Mill or Anderson’s Mills, is a neighborhood in northwest Austin. It is located on Cypress Creek. That creek flows into the Colorado River and Lake Travis. That creek provided water for the mill built by Thomas Anderson. He later built a cotton gin on the site. This is what led to the area being settled.

The area was abandoned in 1894 on his death. It was almost forgotten until people started moving into the area after World War 2. The area became a census-designated place or CDP before it lost that status. This isn’t because people left again. Instead, the 1.4 square mile area and its then nearly ten thousand residents were classified as Austin residents. The neighborhood is sixteen miles northwest of Austin in northwestern Travis County, and Austin simply grew that far north. But it was its own entity within the census data until it merged with Austin.

Anderson’s Mill became part of a municipal utility district or MUD in 1973. These districts manage everything from parks to water infrastructure in Texas. By 1988, there were 3400 homes in the area. In 2008, the town was annexed into Austin after Austin’s city limits started to surround it. And the population of the neighborhood its nine thousand residents became Austin residents. The area continued to develop, and as of 2020, are now eleven thousand residents in the Anderson’s Mill area.

Most students attend schools that are part of the Round Rock Independent School District. Most kids go to Anderson Mill Elementary or Purple Sage Elementary. They are typically assigned to Noel Grisham Middle School and Westwood High School. Purple Sage Elementary received a grade of A from the state of Texas, whereas Anderson’s Mill Elementary received a C plus. Cypress Elementary School received an A minus. But the Anderson’s Mill area has been mostly absorbed into that corner of northern Austin.

Yet the name endures in the from of the Anderson Mill Limited District. That local administrative body replaced the MUD, and it manages a number of local parks. For example, it maintains the El Salido Park and Harper Park sitting in the middle of the neighborhood. El Salido Park has a public pool. The El Salido Greenbelt stretches along El Salido Parkway to Pecan Creek Parkway.

The Pecan Creek Greenbelt starts at Lake Creek Parkway and runs south along Pecan Creek to Pecan Creek Park and Gungrove Drive. And it is memorialized in Anderson Mill Elementary School and the Anderson Mill Park next to Noel Grisham Middle School. The local senior citizen center is located in Millrun Park on Millwright Parkway. (These are callbacks to the original mill.)

Westwood High School is one block from Highway 183. The Anderson Mill Medical Center is located off Hymeadow Drive. The Anderson’s Mill name is applied to two neighborhoods east of Highway 183: Anderson Mill Village and Anderson Mill Village South.

This area contains Old Stage Park and a few residential streets. Old Stage Park has an off-leash dog park. It has quite a few townhomes, whereas the main neighborhood is dominated by traditional single family homes. The Balcones Village area to the south is more upscale. It is also home to the Balcones Country Club.

Farm to Market Road 620 marks the northern border of Anderson’s Mill. Route 183 runs along its eastern border. You can take that south to MoPac Expressway and Interstate 35. Both roads take you into north Austin. I-35 continues on to San Antonio and south Texas.

Anderson Mill Road is the southern edge of the subdivision. If you continue taking that east, you’ll reach Highway 734 and Jollyville. The Austin Aquarium sits just outside of the neighborhood’s boundaries. Lakeline Mall is north of FM 620. It is the closest major mall for residents.

The average home in this area costs around 400,000 dollars, and most of them were built after 1980. For comparison, the average home in Austin cost around 560,000 dollars, and that value excludes the ten million dollar mansions that can pull the average home price up. You’ll pay more for Anderson Mills Lake Sites along Bullick Hollow Road. These lakeside homes stretch from Cypress Creek Park to Bullick Hollow.

FM2769 goes north of the river bend and takes you to Cypress Creek Marina and the Cypress Creek Arm. If you take FM 620 south, you’ll hit neighborhoods like Four Points before hitting the south side of Lake Travis. Note that the Anderson’s Mill area and the homes on Lake Travis shouldn’t be confused with the Mills Pond Recreation Area east of Mopac Expressway.

Anderson’s Mill is one of the last suburban neighborhoods before you reach the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Preserve. That is what gives the Balcones area its name.

Driving Directions From Anderson Mill To Lincoln-Goldfinch Law

Driving Directions From Anderson Mill To Northwest Hills