The Handbook of Texas
ZIONVILLE, TEXAS. Zionville (Zionsville) was 3½ miles south of the intersection of Farm roads 2679 and 390, six miles northwest of Brenham in western Washington County. In 1870 Rev. William Pfennig organized Zion Lutheran Church there. A community named for the church grew up around it and obtained a post office by 1872. This settlement prospered during the 1870s. Adolph Streckert served as postmaster until 1880, when the Zionville post office closed. During the later nineteenth century immigrants from Germany,
especially Prussia, continued settling in Zionville. The church and an agricultural economy sustained the community, though it did not develop commercially because of the proximity of Brenham and Gay Hill. In 1872 the church entered the first Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Texas. Three of Zion Lutheran’s early pastors, Rudolf Jaeggli, Ernst Huber, and G. Stricker, later became synod presidents. In 1901 a large frame church building was dedicated; also on the church grounds were a parsonage and a large education building.
In 1905 the Texas Evangelical Lutheran Synod met at Zionville. Zionville declined by the 1930s as the county became more urbanized. In the 1940s the church had a congregation of 465 and a Sunday school of 138. In 1988 only the new Zion Lutheran Church, which was erected in 1970, and its parsonage, educational building, and large cemetery remained at Zionville. This church was still a center of religious, social, and athletic
activities, and its congregation, most of whom resided in Brenham, included descendents of the original Zionville settlers.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: W. O. Dietrich, The Blazing Story of Washington County
(Brenham, Texas: Banner Press, 1950; rev. ed., Wichita Falls: Nortex, 1973).
Max Heinrich, comp., History of the First Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Texas
(Waverly, Iowa: Wartburg, 1928). Charles F. Schmidt,
History of Washington County (San Antonio: Naylor, 1949). Heinz Carl Ziehe,
A Centennial Story of the Lutheran Church in Texas
(2 vols., Seguin, Texas, 1951, 1954).
Carole E. Christian
Recommended citation:
“ZIONVILLE, TX.” The Handbook of Texas Online;
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hvz10
History of Zion Lutheran Church
May 1870 Congregation organized
Jan. 29, 1871 Church bell purchased
Sep. 8, 1900 First church dedicated
Jan. 27, 1902 First church destroyed by Galveston storm
May 10, 1914 Second church dedicated
Feb. 17, 1921 First Luther League organized
Feb. 28, 1943 Women of the Church organized
Sep. 26, 1948 Men’s Brotherhood organized
Spring 1969 Educational Building dedicated
June 28, 1970 Church dismantled to start construction of third church
Feb. 26, 1995 Third church dedicated & 100th anniversary celebrated
Christian Life Center dedicated
Pastors of Zion Lutheran Church
William Pfenning
January 29, 1871 – January 10, 1875
G. Thoene
January 10, 1875 – February 1880
Gottfried Jordan
February 1880 – November 30, 1882
Rudolph Jaeggli
May 1883 – November 27, 1886
Ernest Huber
November 27, 1887 – August 30, 1889
F. Schwan
May 1890 – June 1893
G. Stricker
August 4, 1893 – August 21, 1902
M. Haag
October 26, 1902 – August 1912
Karl Mueller
April 1, 1913 – September 24, 1937
Fred Mgebroff
January 9, 1938 – July 1947
R.J. Weber
August 1947 – July 1974
James Witschorke
September 22, 1974 – December 31, 1981
Will Bigott
May 1, 1982 – March 31, 1987
Joe Podolak
February 17, 1988 – May 15, 1990
Intern Jen Andreas
September 1, 1989 – August 31, 1990
B.A. “Tim” Christ
November 15, 1990 – 2000
Rudy A. Kelling
September 1, 1991 – 1998
David Hall
May 6, 2001 – September 30, 2011