Valley Mills is a city in Bosque and McLennan counties, Texas, situated along the Bosque River in the rolling countryside of Central Texas, about 24 miles north of Waco. Its 2020 population was 1,229, and the McLennan County portion of the city falls within the Waco metropolitan statistical area. State Highway 6 runs through the community, known locally as Avenue C in the downtown, linking Valley Mills to Clifton about 11 miles to the north and Waco to the south. The town's name and history are tied to the river. A flour mill was built on the Bosque River in 1867, and in 1868 A. H. Steagall and Dr. E. P. Booth purchased 300 acres on the north bank and platted the original townsite. After flooding and relocation, residents rebuilt across the river, and by the end of 1882 the community extended into McLennan County. Dairy farming and stock raising anchored the early economy, and by 1900 the railroad and the nearby Chisholm Trail had made Valley Mills a prosperous retail and trading center for both counties, with the population reaching 855 by the mid-1920s before the Depression-era decline common to rural Texas towns. Today Valley Mills is a compact, low-density community where the Valley Mills Independent School District, with three campuses and roughly 670 students, serves as a central institution. The town's streets are quiet, and its commercial core along Highway 6 remains modest. The city's appeal lies in its combination of small-town character, river-valley scenery, and proximity to Waco. It suits those seeking a rural, affordable base in Central Texas with convenient highway access to regional employment and services, set within the historic landscape of the old Chisholm Trail.