Zodiac is a vanished

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

settlement established in 1847 on the

Pedernales River The Pedernales River ( ) is a tributary of the Colorado River, approximately long, in Central Texas in the United States. It drains an area of the Edwards Plateau, flowing west to east across the Texas Hill Country west of Austin. The name "Pede ...

, located southeast of Fredericksburg, in

Gillespie County Gillespie County is a County (United States), county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was 26,725. The county seat is Fredericksburg, Texas, Fredericksburg ...

, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. The area it was located on eventually converted to private acreage, and no trace of the settlement remains today. It was the first Mormon colony established by

Lyman Wight Lyman Wight (May 9, 1796 – March 31, 1858) was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. He was the leader of the Latter Day Saints in Daviess County, Missouri, in 1838. In 1841, he was ordained a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apost ...

in Texas. The second settlement was

Mormon Mill, Burnet County, Texas Mormon Mill is a vanished Mormon colony established in 1851 on Hamilton Creek in Burnet County, in the U.S. state of Texas. The site is located on Mormon Mills Road north of Marble Falls and south of Burnet. Mormon Mill has also been known as ...

in 1851, and his third and final settlement was Mormon Camp in 1854 in Bandera County. In 1936, Zodiac was designated a

Recorded Texas Historic Landmark Recorded Texas Historic Landmark (RTHL) is a designation awarded by the Texas Historical Commission for historically and architecturally significant properties in the U.S. state of Texas. RTHL is a legal designation and the highest honor the sta ...

, Marker number 10133.

History

Background

Wight led a group of 200 followers into Texas in 1845. The group first entered Texas at Grayson County, at a site known as Mormon Grove, where they spent the winter months before moving on during the spring thaw, arriving in

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

in June 1846. The Mormons hired themselves out as laborers to help build the city jail. After constructing a sawmill and gristmill on the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...

, the group migrated towards the

Texas Hill Country The Texas Hill Country is a geographic region of Central and South Texas, forming the southeast part of the Edwards Plateau. Given its location, climate, terrain, and vegetation, the Hill Country can be considered the border between the Ameri ...

Settlement

Wight received permission in 1847 from

John O. Meusebach John O. Meusebach (May 26, 1812 – May 27, 1897), born Otfried Hans Freiherr von Meusebach, was at first a Prussian bureaucrat, later an American farmer and politician who served in the Texas Senate, District 22. Early years John O. Meusebach ...

to settle a colony of

s within the

Adelsverein The ''Mainzer Adelsverein at Biebrich am Rhein'' (''Verein zum Schutze Deutscher Einwanderer in Texas'', "Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas"), better known as the ''Mainzer Adelsverein'' (, "Nobility Society of Mainz"), orga ...

territory. Core ideals of the Germans that favored religious tolerance and disfavored the institution of slavery made this particular German community look inviting to Wight. Upon settling at a site on the Pedernales River in Gillespie County, Wight and his followers set about to erect the structures of their community. They built a chapel, school, store, gristmill, and sawmill. The Mormon business enterprises helped supply the needs of the county as a whole. In 1848, Wight and his followers helped build

Fort Martin Scott Fort Martin Scott is a restored United States Army outpost near Fredericksburg in the Texas Hill Country, United States, that was active from December 5, 1848, until April, 1853. It was part of a line of frontier forts established to protect trav ...

. United States boundary commissioner

John Russell Bartlett John Russell Bartlett (October 23, 1805 – May 28, 1886) was an American historian and linguist. Biography Bartlett was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on October 23, 1805. In 1819 he was a student at the Lowville Academy in Lowville, New Y ...

had been charged to carry out the provisions of the

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ( es, Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo), officially the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits, and Settlement between the United States of America and the United Mexican States, is the peace treaty that was signed on 2 ...

. Bartlett visited Zodiac in 1850 and gave an account of community life: In 1851, the Pedernales River overflowed its banks and destroyed the Mormon mills. Wight and the others pulled up stakes and moved to Mormon Mill in Burnet County. They retained the rights to the Zodiac cemetery in Gillespie, where several of their flock had already been buried. Lyman Wight died eight miles from

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

on March 31, 1858, and was returned to Zodiac Cemetery for burial. After the departure of the Mormons, the area saw a succession of Germans, English and Danish colonists. Before and during the Civil War the area formerly known as Zodiac became a slave labor cotton farm, purportedly the only slave labor cotton plantation in Gillespie County. If that claim is accurate, this is possibly the property on which future

Texas State Senator The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per cons ...

Matthew Gaines Matthew Gaines (August 4, 1840 – June 11, 1900) was a former Slavery in the United States, slave, community leader, minister, and Republican Party (United States), Republican Texas Texas Senate, state senator. He made valuable contributions to ...

was forced to work as a runaway slave during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. In the 1860 census, Gillespie County had thirty-three slaves. The Rocky Hill school was built in 1885, and Zodiac was renamed for the school. The cemetery was plowed over and destroyed. The area is located on private property.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zodiac, Texas Populated places in Gillespie County, Texas Latter Day Saint movement in Texas Populated places established in 1847 Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks 1847 establishments in Texas

History

Background

Settlement

See also

References

Further reading

External links