Salt Flats of Pilgrim Lake
Gonzales County, Gonzales County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Long before the arrival of Spaniards or Anglo-Americans, this natural salt source was probably utilized by native Indians. Although not produced in great quantities, salt was processed here by pioneers in the 1800s. In damp weather, salty "dew" forms on the flats.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Long before Spanish or Anglo-American arrival, Native peoples drew salt from this natural flat beside Pilgrim Lake, where a salty "dew" still forms in damp weather. In the 1800s pioneer settlers processed salt here too, though never in great quantity. The modest site preserves a resource that mattered deeply to every people who lived on the land.
Why it matters
Salt sources like this were vital to Indigenous nations and frontier settlers alike, a reminder of how natural resources shaped where and how people lived.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Cuero I Archeological District
Hochheim, TX
Stretching forty-five miles along the Guadalupe River, the Cuero I Archeological District was defined in the early 1970s to study and preserve sites threatened by a proposed reservoir. Excavations in 1972-73 uncovered 352 significant sites spanning some 9,000 years of human occupation โ from the camps of prehistoric nomads to those of historic Tonkawas and Comanches. Later sites mark the arrival of Anglo-American settlers under Green DeWitt's colony in the 1820s and 1830s.
Indian Fort, Site of
Gonzales, TX
An Indian raid on July 2, 1826, left one Gonzales settler dead and another wounded and sent the frightened colonists fleeing to Burnham's Station on the Colorado River or to the Lavaca. In 1827, Green DeWitt's colonists were ordered back to reestablish the settlement, and on this lot they built a fort for protection. It was a small but telling episode in the struggle to hold the Texas frontier.
Remschel House
Gonzales, TX
Built around 1907 by local craftsman Fred Meisenhelder, this one-story Victorian cottage was the home of Julius Frederick Remschel and his wife Luella. Remschel was the son of a German immigrant who had founded a local lumber company in 1888, and the house reflects its setting: siding milled from locally grown cypress, set atop brick columns from the Gonzales Sunset Brick and Tile Company. It stands as a record of a family and a town building with the materials at hand.
Dr. George Washington Barnett
Gonzales, TX
Born in South Carolina in 1793, Dr. George Washington Barnett served in the army of Texas during the 1835โ36 revolution and signed the Texas Declaration of Independence in 1836. He then represented his district through six congresses of the Republic of Texas as a senator. His life ended violently in 1848 when he was killed by Indians on the Texas frontier.