Fredericksburg Rockhounds Home Page

The Fredericksburg Rockhounds, a non-profit organization for the study and enjoyment of gems, minerals, and fossils, was founded in 1968. We are affiliated with the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies (AFMS) and the South Central Federation of Mineral Societies (SCFMS).

In addition to informative and fun meetings with door prizes and guest speakers every month, we have—

Monthly Field Trips
Rock Swaps
Annual Show (January)
Annual Picnic (June)
Christmas Party (December)

We hold our meetings at 7:00 P.M. on the first Monday of each month at the Golden Hub Senior Center, 1009 N Lincoln, Fredericksburg, Texas (except in June, when we have our annual picnic). SEE MAP

For a printable membership application (PDF format), click here.

Our next gem, mineral, & fossil show will be in January 2009. Watch for details later this year.

Our newsletters:

Our newsletters are published just before the first of each month, in PDF format. Most computers use Adobe Reader (formerly Adobe Acrobat) for viewing PDF files; if you need Adobe Reader, click here to download it for free.

To read a newsletter, just click on the month (make sure you select the desired year). Depending upon how your browser's preferences are set up: it may be saved to your hard drive and opened in Adobe Reader or other compatible software; or it may be saved without being automatically opened; or it may only open for viewing without being saved. If your browser doesn’t automatically save it and you want a permanent copy, try a "save as" while viewing it. Or, instead of just clicking on the newsletter date, right-click (control-click) for the pop-up menu, and select “download linked file” or “save target file,” or whatever similar choice your browser gives.

March 1971 (For nostalgia)

2007: | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

2008: | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul |

Some good links:

These first three links are for MINERAL IDENTIFICATION, as referred to by our November 2007 speaker:
Mohs Hardness Scale
Crystalline Structures
Mineral Physical Properties and Identification

AFMS American Federation of Mineralogical Societies
SCFMS South Central Federation of Mineral Societies

OTHER TEXAS CLUBS:
Austin G&M Society
Central Texas G&M Society in Abilene
Clear Lake G&M Society in Houston
Dallas G&M Society
Houston G&M Society
Lubbock G&M Society
Paleontological Society of Austin For rockhounds interested in fossils.
Pleasant Oaks G&M Club in Dallas
Southwest G&M Society in San Antonio
Victoria G&M Society

MISC:
Bob's Rock Shop Not really a shop—it's a free online magazine and reference source, with tons of info and links for rockhounds.
Rock Net The forum area of Bob's Rock Shop, with a wide variety of topics.
Alamo Rock Shop A well-stocked rock shop in Boerne, Texas, with a large selection of lapidary tools and supplies.
Enchanted Rocks and Jewelry A friendly shop in Llano, Texas, with everything from rough material and slabs to handmade jewelry, rugs, and more.
Beads & More A shop in Kerrville, Texas, with beads, findings, tools, and classes.
Show dates at Rock & Gem magazine's web site. We put mostly Texas shows in our newsletters, but their list is nationwide and even includes some foriegn shows.
The Corunduminium UPGRADES IN PROGRESS! If you're interested in corundum (ruby, sapphire, etc) then Will Heierman's site is the place to visit! Will says he has resumed re-designing his website, and there should be new changes every day.
Fluorescents.com An awesome website with fluorescent images and info about the Purple Passion mine and other sites in Arizona. Includes a catalog of high quality affordable UV lamps.
mindat.org "The largest mineral database and mineralogical reference website on the internet"
The RockPicks Project This website is dedicated to enhancing the hobby of rockhounding by offering maps of various collecting locations around the United States and Canada. The maps are zoomable and scrollable showing cities, towns, roads and aerial photography. [It's still in its infancy, and many states have no info yet. Select Utah for a good map example.]
Llano GPAA Llano Chapter of the Gold Prospectors Association of America
Free gemology course Presented by Barbara Smigel. A no-cost, no credit version of the internet course that she teaches at Community College of Southern Nevada (CCSN), where she’s an Emeritus Professor.
Hill Country Outdoor Guide A searchable database that provides information for over 500 outdoor recreational sites in the Texas Hill Country.

Mailing address:

110 N Milam PMB 197

Fredericksburg, Texas 78624

—or send us an email
Your suggestions for improving this website are welcome!
Webmaster: Bill Wildfong, with help from Frank Rowell