Flower Mound

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Flower Mound, out here in Denton County. Picture this: you're riding across the North Texas prairie, flat as a skillet in every direction, and then there it is. A smooth, dome-shaped hill, rising fifty feet above everything around it, dressed head to toe in wild flowers.

The Peters Colony settlers saw it, and they knew exactly what to call it. Flower Mound. Now, before W.

S. Peters ever started bringin' settlers to the land the Republic of Texas Congress had issued him, the Wichita Indians called this area home. Then came the 1840s, and the Peters colonists began movin' onto the prairie, lookin' for good farmland.

In 1844, a man named John R. Wizwell was granted six hundred and forty acres; and right in the middle of all that land sat the mound itself. Wizwell's widow, Edy, eventually remarried and sold that land to George L.

Beavers. And the Beavers family? They held onto it well into the twentieth century.

Generation after generation, keepin' that hill in the family. Here's the part that'll stick with you, though. Local legends say that no structure was ever constructed on top of that mound.

No house, no barn, no shed. And stranger still, no tree has ever grown up there either. Just that smooth dome, sittin' quiet, holdin' its ground.

Make of that what you will. The community that grew up around the mound eventually took on its name in full. Flower Mound Presbyterian Church became the first to officially use that name, back in 1854.

What had started as a waypoint on the prairie became the heart of a sprawling agricultural community. Of course, nothing stays still forever. Dallas and Fort Worth kept growin', and Flower Mound began expandin' right along with that urban tide.

The farmland gave way to something newer, something busier. But that hill is still there. Still in private hands.

Still bare on top. Fifty feet of dome-shaped prairie rising up to remind anybody who's paying attention that long before the suburbs found it, Flower Mound was already something worth rememberin'.

What the marker says

Settlers of the Peters Colony named this smooth, dome-shaped hill for the abundant wild flowers that grow on it. Rising fifty feet above the surrounding prairie, Flower Mound, long has been a point of interest in the area. According to local legends, no structure was ever constructed on top of the mound, nor has any tree grown here. Before W. S. Peters began bringing settlers to the land issued him by the Republic of Texas Congress, Wichita Indians inhabited the area. During the 1840s, Peters colonists began moving to the prairie in search of good farmland. In 1844, John R. Wizwell was granted 640 acres of land that included the mound. His widow, Edy, later remarried and sold this land to George L. Beavers. Flower Mound remained in the Beavers family well into the twentieth century. Although the hill has remained in private ownership, it historically has been identified with the community that grew up around it. Flower Mound Presbyterian Church was the first to officially use the name in 1854. Once a sprawling agricultural community, Flower Mound has begun to expand with the urban growth of nearby Dallas and Fort Worth, leaving this formation as a historic reminder of its pioneer days. (1984)