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The St. John
Landmark Baptist Church along FM 672
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, April 2009 |
History on
a Pinhead
St. John Colony
started with a group of Black farming families who purchased land
here in the early 1870s. Since their leader was the Reverend John
Henry Winn, the town was first called Winn’s Colony. After
the building of St. John Missionary Baptist Church, the community
was renamed. A school at St. John Colony was kept in operation through
the mid 1960s.
See:
St. John Colony Landmarks
St. John Historical Marker |
The dilapidating
St. John Zion Union Baptist Church on county road 167
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, April 2009 |
The newer St.
John Regular Baptist Church with the older 1956 building on the right.
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, April 2009 |
Weathered granite
tablets in front of the St. John Regular Baptist Church relating the
origin and the history of St. John Colony.
Photo
courtesy Terry
Jeanson, April 2009.
More Texas Churches |
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Historical Marker
Saint John
Colony
This community
began in the early 1870s, when a group of freedmen and their families,
let by the Rev. John Henry Winn, relocated here from Webberville (approx.
20 mi. N). The original fourteen families purchased about 2,000 acres
of land to establish a town and family farms. Originally named Winn's
Colony in honor of John H. Winn, the community name was changed to
Saint John Colony after Winn organized Saint John Missionary Baptist
Church in 1873.
The community grew steadily and at its peak included homes of about
100 families, farms, stores, a school, cotton gin, and grist mill.
A post office, under the name Mackiesville, opened in 1890 with Lewis
Mackey as Postmaster. Churches, in addition to Saint John Missionary
Baptist, included Zion Union Missionary Baptist and Landmark Missionary
Baptist. The boundaries of the colony extended into Bastrop County.
The post office was closed in the 1920s, and the school was consolidated
with Lockhart schools in 1966. The churches remain active, and the
community graveyard, known as Saint John Cemetery, or Zion Cemetery,
contains the graves of many of the area's pioneers. Descendants of
some of the founding families still reside in Saint John Colony. (1990) |
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Historical marker
across from the cemetery
on county road 167/Chamberlin Road
Photo
courtesy Terry
Jeanson, April 2009 |
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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