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History in
a Pecan Shell
Zodiac was a community
of 200 led by Mormon elder Lyman Wight. Frederickburg’s
German leader John Meusebach granted permission to the group in the
1840s.
This group built the first gristmill / sawmill in Gillespie
County and aided in the construction of nearby Ft.
Martin Scott. The 1850 census reported a population of around
160.
Discouraged by a flood that tore out the mills in 1853, the townsfolk
left for greener pastures, leaving behind only a small cemetery. The
abandonment of the community left a void that was quickly filled by
arriving German and Anglo immigrants.
A local school named Rocky Hill was constructed in the 1880s
and the community that grew around it adopted the name.
Today a Texas Centennial marker and the Mormon cemetery are all that
are left of Zodiac. |
Centennial Marker:
Site of Zodiac
A Mormon settlement.
Established in 1847 by 150 Mormons under the leadership of Lyman Wight
(1796-1858). Abandoned in 1851 after floods destroyed their mill.
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Related Articles:
by Michael Barr
A story in the San Antonio Daily Express told of a German farmer,
wandering through the Hill Country in search of a stray yoke of oxen,
who stumbled upon a thriving Mormon village, 4 miles southeast of
Fredericksburg on the Pedernales River. The farmer carried the news
of this unknown settlement back to his neighbors on Baron's Creek.
more |
by Clay Coppedge
If Lyman Wight could have had his way, Texas and not Utah might have
become home to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and
the Mormon Church. Wight brought about 150 fellow Mormons across the
Red River into Texas in November of 1845. They spent the winter in
Grayson County and in the spring of 1846 migrated south to a spot
near present-day Webberville.
They chose that site because Wight said the recently-slain Mormon
leader Joseph Smith had told him to build a new colony there, on the
Colorado River where Tom Miller Dam is today. They built a mill but
it was soon washed away by a flood. That, combined with a generally
cool reception from the people in Travis County, led Wight to move
his group to the Pedernales River near Fredericksburg where they founded
the town of Zodiac. more
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| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
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