To fill footwear, harness and saddlery needs of the South; established 1863 on this site, then 2 miles above city limits. Operated in summer as well as winter, because tanning agent, a soup made of chopped mesquite wood, soaked deeply into hides. Thus, unlike other tannins, this prevented loss in hot weather. Plant treated 6,000 hides at a time. Shoemakers of Confederate Texas were to be concentrated here. A cotton and woolen mill, run by San Antonio River power, was also built on plant site. Other wartime Texas products included salt, hats, cotton cards. (1965)