Saint John Colony

Duane's take

The way the official marker tells it, here's the story of Saint John Colony in Caldwell County. Now settle in, because this one starts with fourteen families and a whole lot of courage. In the early 1870s, a group of freedmen and their families made a move.

Not a small move, either. Led by the Reverend John Henry Winn, they came up from Webberville, roughly twenty miles north, and they put down roots right here. They didn't just settle.

They bought land. About two thousand acres of it, purchased outright, with the intention of building something that would last. A town.

Family farms. A future. That community was first called Winn's Colony, in honor of the man who led them there.

Then, in 1873, Reverend Winn organized Saint John Missionary Baptist Church, and the name of the community changed with it. Saint John Colony. And from that point forward, the place grew.

It grew steadily, the marker says, until at its peak it held the homes of about a hundred families. Not just homes, either. Farms.

Stores. A school. A cotton gin.

A grist mill. Churches took root too. Saint John Missionary Baptist, Zion Union Missionary Baptist, Landmark Missionary Baptist.

The colony even stretched its boundaries into neighboring Bastrop County. In 1890 a post office opened under the name Mackiesville, with Lewis Mackey serving as postmaster. That post office ran until the 1920s.

The school kept going longer, all the way until 1966, when it was consolidated with the Lockhart schools. But here's the thing about a community that builds on its own ground. The churches are still active.

The graveyard, known as Saint John Cemetery or Zion Cemetery, still holds the graves of many of the area's pioneers. And descendants of some of those original fourteen founding families? They still live right here in Saint John Colony.

Fourteen families started it. And it's still going.

What the marker says

This community began in the early 1870s when a group of freedmen and their families, led 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)