 As the town grew and traffic on the road increased after the Civil War, the Vances added a second story to the store building in 1874 to provide rooms for overnight guests.In 1854, the Vances sold the riverfront portion of his property to George L. Haass and Laurent Quintle, who built a dam on the river and constructed a water powered grist mill to process grain and gin cotton for local farmers.Joseph and Margarethe Courand, immigrants to Texas from Alsace, bought the mill in 1876 and made substantial improvements to it before his death three years later.