High Hill

The last painted church on our church/wildflower trip by my cousin and I into the Hill Country of Texas last month was to search out St. Mary at High Hill. We had a good map and most of the churches are located in farmland only a few miles from each other.  We knew we were on the right track when we came upon this sign.

After a cresting a small hill, we saw the spire above the treetops.  Surrounded by lush green pastures, small farms and modest homes, it was the perfect day:  a cool spring morning with just a hint of rain and with some dramatic skies all around.

This particular community was settled by German and Czech-Moravian immigrants in 1860.  At one time it boasted a dozen stores, a brewery, five blacksmith shops, a sawmill, three saloons, a dance hall, and a hotel stagecoach stop along an intercontinental stage route.  A public school and a parochial school educated its children.  The first successful cotton seed oil mill in the nation was a prominent industry and employer.  Today all those businesses are gone and High Hill is pretty much considered a ghost town.  The railroad had plans for High Hill, wanting to include it along the route between Houston and San Antonio, but the townspeople declined the offer and the town eventually declined.  Instead the rails went south and others benefited from the economy the railroad brought.  But St. Mary is still there.

Most people who come to see the church wonder what all the hubbub is about, because, after all, it's nothing special, just a pretty little red brick church with a steeple out in the middle of nowhere.  Stop by tomorrow and I'll show you why it's called the Queen of the Painted Churches.