Zanoni is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

located in

Ozark County Ozark County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,553. The largest city and county seat is Gainesville. The county was organized as Ozark County, named after th ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, United States on Route 181, approximately ten miles northeast of Gainesville. A

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...

(doubling as a

bed and breakfast Bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. Bed and breakfasts are often private family homes and typically have between four and eleven rooms, wit ...

) and a post office are all that remain of the community. The community was founded in 1898 and was named for the novel ''

Zanoni ''Zanoni'' is an 1842 novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, a story of love and occult aspiration. By way of introduction, the author confesses: "... It so chanced that some years ago, in my younger days, whether of authorship or life, I felt the d ...

'' by

Edward Bulwer-Lytton Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton, PC (25 May 180318 January 1873) was an English writer and politician. He served as a Whig member of Parliament from 1831 to 1841 and a Conservative from 1851 to 1866. He was Secret ...

. The mill was built in 1905 as an

overshot wheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with a number of blades or bucket ...

mill by "Doc" Morrison and restored by his grandson.Rafferty, M. D., ''The Ozarks, Land and Life,'' University of Arkansas Press, 2nd ed, 2001, p. 281 Zanoni 5

The mill is located where the Zanoni Spring arises from openings in the

Roubidoux Formation The Roubidoux Formation is a geologic formation in the Ozarks of Missouri and in Virginia. It preserves fossils dating back to the Ordovician period. Paleofauna Monoplacophora * '' Kirengella'' : ''K. oregonensis'' * '' Wildernessia'' : ''W. ine ...

, an

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period million years ago (Mya) to the start ...

unit of mixed

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

and

dolomite Dolomite may refer to: *Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral *Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock *Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community *Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...

. The spring discharges at the base of a ridge above Pine Creek, a tributary of Caney Creek which discharges into

Bryant Creek Bryant Creek (also known as Bryant River) is a stream in the Ozarks of Missouri. Bryant Creek has headwaters just west of Lead Hill and southeast Cedar Gap in southwestern Wright County and flows in a southeasterly direction through Douglas Cou ...

just above its intersection with North Fork River and

Norfork Lake Norfork Dam is a large dam in northern Arkansas southeast of Mountain Home. It dams North Fork River and creates Norfork Lake. The top of the dam supports a 2-lane roadway, part of AR 177. History In the late 1930s, before construction of th ...

.''Sycamore, Missouri,'' 7.5 Minute Topographic Quadrangle, USGS, 1968 The discharge of the spring is or per day.Major Springs of the Bryant Watershed
/ref>

References

Unincorporated communities in Ozark County, Missouri Unincorporated communities in Missouri Populated places established in 1898 1898 establishments in Missouri {{OzarkCountyMO-geo-stub