Wimberley started as a trading post settlement near Cypress Creek in 1848, the year Hays County was organized. After William Carvin Winters built a gristmill at the site in 1856, it took on the name Winters’ Mill. When the mill was sold in 1864 to the Cude family, its name was changed to Cude’s Mill. It was sold again in 1874 to Pleasant Wimberley and took on his name. Over the years, the mill was expanded to process lumber, shingles, flour, molasses, and cotton. The mill is gone, but Winter’s c. 1856 home survives and is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

In 1880, Alfred vom Stein, a postmaster from San Marcos, applied to have a post office established in the community, calling it Wimberleyville. The application was granted, but the name shortened to Wimberley. Although the mill was shut down in 1925, the community was established and continued to grow, eventually becoming known as a resort town and becoming popular with tourists. Wimberley Public Schools are part of the Wimberley Independent School District. The district has one primary school, one elementary school, one junior high school, and two high schools (Wimberley High School and Katherine Anne Porter School, a public charter high school). Students attend Wimberley High School or Katherine Anne Porter School (HS), Scudder Primary School, Jacob’s Well Elementary School and Danforth Junior High School.