Flower Mound
Flower Mound, Denton County, Texas
Marker Inscription
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)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Rising some fifty feet above the North Texas prairie and crowned each spring with wildflowers, this dome-shaped hill gave its name to the settlers who gathered around it. It stood on land that the Wichita people inhabited before W. S. Peters's colonists arrived in the 1840s under grants from the Republic of Texas. Local lore held that no building or tree ever took root on its summit, and a Presbyterian church first put the name "Flower Mound" on the map in 1854. Long a private farm landmark, the mound now anchors a suburb spreading out from Dallas and Fort Worth.
Why it matters
The mound is a living memento of the Peters Colony experiment that filled empire-hungry Republic of Texas with Anglo farmers, and of the Indigenous prairie world that preceded them.
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Related people
- · W. S. Peters
Related events
- · Peters Colony settlement
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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