The man, the mill, the legend: How this road in Fort Worth and Arlington got its name

Find Out, Fort Worth: The Star-Telegram answers your questions. Our mission is to help you navigate life in Tarrant County. If you have questions you’d like us to consider, submit them through this form.

Today, the name Randol Mill is associated with Randol Mill Road, a thoroughfare from east Fort Worth north of Interstate-30 that winds into Arlington. Arlington residents may know the name because of Randol Mill Park, situated along its namesake roadway.

One Star-Telegram reader asked how the road got its name. Here’s what our Find Out, Fort Worth team found.

Q: “Randol Mill road is a major Fort Worth/Arlington thoroughfare. Was there a person named Randol Mill or a person named Randol who had a mill? If so, where?”

Before it was a road or a park, Randol Mill was named after a grain mill that was located off Precinct Line Road by the Trinity River.

The mill, originally called Leonard’s Mill, was built at the site in 1856 by Archibald F. Leonard, along with a dam.

Leonard’s Mill was located north of today’s Randol Mill Road and west of Precinct Line Road. A water-driven turbine powered the mill, a circular saw and a cotton gin, according to archives by the University of North Texas Libraries.

The mill produced ground grain, corn meal and, later, flour.

During the abolitionist movement, the mill was burned down in 1860 and was reopened two years later, operating during the Civil War.

After 1867, the mill’s owners were H.B. Alverson and J.H. Wheeler and became “Wheeler’s Mill.” R.A. Randol acquired the mill in 1876, making it Randol’s Mill.

Although born in Virginia, Randol moved to Texas as a young man and lived in Tarrant County for over 40 years. He owned “considerable” land in and near Arlington and was buried in Arlington Cemetery after he died in 1922, according to his funeral notice in the Star-Telegram.

Randol’s Mill, near the river with trees for shade, became a site for church gatherings, family reunions and large picnics, according to the City of Arlington.

In 1933, the mill burned down from a fire set off by a picnic goer and was not rebuilt.