A Texas Road Trip 3.4 - Honey Creek

Between Boerne and Blanco I could see spires and crosses on a distant hill and wondered if I would pass by.  I eventually did find St. Joseph's at Honey Creek, a one-time community in Comal County which was settled by German immigrant families in the 1840s.

There was a large development and as \I drove through the area, another church was nearby on the grounds.  I passed a rather large cemetery and the road narrowed and went steeply up a hill and eventually became barely wide enough for even my small vehicle.

At the top of the hill stood a tiny chapel overlooking the two churches of the parish below.

And this, my friends, is the Texas Hill County where it was a wonderment to find this spot high above even the tall church spires that I had seen for several miles, and my view was unobstructed for miles and miles on this beautiful Texas day.

A Texas Road Trip 3.3 - Boerne

Stop three on day three of my September road trip was in Boerne (pronounced Bernie).  I had been there previously in December during our Christmas trip but my journey this day took me there again. I was intrigued by the castle-like beauty of St. Helena's Episcopal Church and stopped to take a walk through the gardens.

I immediately thought of TexWis and her Good Fences meme ( CHECK IT OUT) when I saw the wrought iron fencework amid the beautiful stone masonry.

The present Gothic stone structure was built in 1929.

Something very orange was happening that day at noon at Main Plaza Park.  It was mid-September so a little early for Halloween.

This sweet little Victorian house was getting some roof TLC.

Boerne is the county seat of Kendall County.  I featured a post on its old courthouse back in February which you can see HERE.  It was settled by German immigrants and today is a city of 10,500.  It is a part of the San Antonio/New Braunfels metropolitan area.

A Texas Road Trip 3.1

Day 3 of the road trip found me leaving found me leaving San Antonio before the city traffic became congested with my first stop in Castroville, 30 miles west, in search of the old Medina County Courthouse.  I also found St. Louis Cathedral, a quaint little church built of native limestone between 1868 and 1870.

Outside the front of the church is a strike statue of St. Louis, the warrior king of France who participated in the Crusades and who ruled the French kingdom from 1226 from the time he was 12 years old until the year 1270.

You may be thinking, like I was, why is a church in a town with the very Latino name of Castroville named for a French saint.  The city was settled by Henri Castro, a Jewish banker from France who became one of the most important empresarios in Texas.  An empresario is defined as a person who is given a right to settle upon land in exchange for recruiting and taking responsibility for new settlers. Castro began recruiting in Paris and eventually was responsible for the settlement of people from Alsace, Baden, and Switzerland.  Other settlers eventually arrived who were German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian.  Texas became a true melting pot, and land was plentiful and cheap.  After all this history, isn't it amazing that Texans are among the most irritable when it comes to questions of immigration!  (Sorry for the political comment.  I try my darnedess not to do that but it's almost laughable!)

The church in Castroville has celebrated St. Louis Day in August of every year in celebration of the Feast of St. Louis since 1847 when the first St. Louis parish church was established in this little town.

While I was taking photos of the church and the statue of St. Louis, a gentleman who had been sitting outside the church and had moved thinking he was in the way of my photos approached me and we struck up a conversation.  He kept inviting me to come see the interior of the church but I declined, not wanting to get a late start on my day's journey as I had the day before by going on a historic house tour.  He told me there were workers inside the church who had been repainting and giving the sanctuary a thorough cleaning.  I finally agreed to take a look-see and I was definitely glad I did.  It was absolutely beautiful and gleaming.  He said it was the first fresh coat of paint in 20 years.  The tile floor were sparkling with wax and there was not a speck of dust to be found.  I loved the curved wooden beams in the ceiling, and although the pews were stacked on top of each other it looked almost perfect.  I could understand his feelings of affection when he told me that the next day was the 45th anniversary of his wedding in this church and how much St. Louis meant to him and the entire community.

The Castroville City Hall was originally the Medina County Courthouse.  This building was constructed in 1854 and is one of the oldest original courthouses still standing and still in use, although not as a courthouse.  A special election in 1892 changed to county seat from Castroville to Hondo.

I just happened upon this very interesting door during my drive up and down some of the streets of Castroville.

Population:  2,700
Location:  300 miles south of Dallas, 220 miles west of Houston, 1,680 miles southeast of Castroville, California, and 350 miles southwest of my home in Garrison, Tx.

A Texas Road Trip 2.4 - Panna Maria

Panna Maria (Polish for Virgin Mary) is a tiny community just five miles down the road from Cestohowa and is the oldest Upper Silesian settlement in the United States.  It was settled on Christmas Eve, 1854, and its original citizens were from Silesia, which at that time was part of the Kingdom of Prussia.  Many of its residents still speak a dialect of the Silesian language which has come to be known as Texas Silesian.  Its signature church is the Immaculate Conception.

The church is considered to be one of the painted churches of Texas, although it is much simpler than the other examples of Czech painted churches primarily located in Fayette County.  I had not intended to post any pictures of the interior because for some reason most of the photos I took have these horizontal lines.  But I decided to show you one and I hope that someone can tell me why this happened.  All the photos on this trip were taken with the same camera, one that I use frequently when traveling because it is lightweight and has a good zoom.  The only photos with this anomaly were of the Panna Maria church.  Any ideas, folks?

A statue of Pope John Paul II stands near the main road on the side of the church.  As you probably remember, John Paul was a native of Poland and he is revered by the Polish Catholics.  The inscription on the sculpture reads as follows:

In Poland, Panna Maria, Texas is very famous.  Everyone knows of Panna Maria and those first Polish immigrants who responded to the call of their pastor and spiritual leader, Father Leopold Moczygemba.  All of our great American Polonia credits its origin to you, Panna Maria, as the first nest built on American soil by Polish immigrants inspiring others to follow in your footsteps.  Pope John Paul II to Polish Texans and Parishioners of Panna Maria, September 13, 1987.

Even though Panna Maria is considered a ghost town it has a post office ...

... and a visitors center.  Its current population is 10.

A Texas Road Trip 2.3 - Cestohowa

After Floresville I headed south in search of the tiny settlement of Cestohowa, one of the first Polish settlements in the United States.  It was only 22 miles but I had no addresses so no way of programming my GPS but I had handwritten out the directions on how to find this tiny community. This little house with a neatly kept lawn was my first clue that I was in the area and then I saw the church spire.

Like many of the Czech Catholic churches in Central Texas, the beautiful Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary looms on the horizon long before you get to the building.

Cestohowa was founded in 1873 by 40 Silesian families who lived in a nearby village (more on that tomorrow!).  For a few years it had a post office and a school but in the 1930s its population declined to about 100, the same as today.  For a small village, the church is massive.  The parking lot probably accommodates 200 vehicles and there are 65 pews in the sanctuary.  The interior of the church is simple but beautiful.

At the edge of the parking lot on the church grounds was this rather large bush with the red/orange blossoms which had attracted dozens of black swallowtail butterflies.  I had a larger lens in my car so after my photos of the church I retrieved the lens and captured many nice photos of these beautiful butterflies.  Just an extra added attractive which wasn't on my list of things to see.

A Texas Road Trip 2.1 - Seguin

Life is ever changing, isn't it.  I had to be away another few days because this time my laptop crashed and it had to have a new hard drive.  That's two computer failures in the past few months.  I now have computer services again and the sale of my family's property is speeding down the road.  I finally have a land survey scheduled and an appraiser should be contacting us soon.  An attorney is preparing sale documents, deeds, et cetera.  At present I have a driving trip planned to Arizona before the end of the month to take some items that need to be transported and I'm hoping for my final move before Thanksgiving or at least by the end of November.  All this means I won't be posting or visiting while this relocation occurs.  In the meantime I'll try to post the remainder of the road trip I took in September and the following post is the first stop of the second day in Seguin, Texas.

Seguin is a lovely city of 25,000 35 miles east of San Antonio and is named for the political and military leader during Texas' fight for independence from Mexico and continued to be an important force throughout the early days of the Republic and later  after Texas' admission to the Union.  This large beautiful statue of Seguin dominates the plaza in the central portion of the city.

Seguin's first church and bell tower built in 1849 still stand and have been lovingly restored.  The two doors for the church entrance illustrate an earlier practice of having a door for the women and children and a separate door for the men!

St. James Catholic Church in the early morning light

Mason County Courthouse (Texas No. 63)

Constructed:  1909
Architectural Style:  Classical Revival, as reported by the site I usually use for Texas courthouse facts; Beaux Arts, as reported by the historical marker for the building
Materials:  Granite
Cost of Construction:  $39,796
Note:  Had I taken a photo from the side, the clock tower would have appeared much taller than it seems in this photo.  The reason for no photo from that angle is there were sprinklers going all over the lawn and although I was hot and sweaty I had my "good" camera and I didn't want to risk it!

Mason County was primarily settled by German immigrants in the 1850s.  Until the founding of Fort Mason by the U.S. War Department in 1851 as a front-line defense against Kiowa, Apache and Comanche attacks against white settlers, most people were afraid to live in this region.  After the building of the fort, some protection was offered and the people came.  In early 1861, after the start of the Civil War , the Confederacy surrendered the fort.  There were few Union, if any, troops in the area and the abandoned fort caused a return of unrest for early pioneers.  After the war federal troops once again occupied the fort but only for two years and it was eventually abandoned. This was rough territory and dangerous times for people in this part of the state, the stuff cowboys and Indians movies was made of!

The Mason County Jail sits behind the courthouse.  It is still the present day jail in Mason County, although you can see by the historical marker mounted to the right of the front door in the photograph (to the left of the door in reality) that the jail was built in 1894 of sandstone mined in the nearby hills. The first floor provided living quarters for the sheriff (and more than likely his family)  while the second floor housed cells.  It's probably no fun today to spend time in this jail.  I see a window air conditioner on the first floor but no signs of the same upstairs!  And it is HOT in Mason!

The county seat of Mason County is Mason.  Not so surprising to many but in Texas that's a rarity. Here in East Texas we have such things as Athens is the county seat of Henderson County, whereas Henderson is the county seat of Rusk County, whereas Rusk is the county seat of Cherokee County, and Crockett is the county seat of Houston County, while Ozona out in West Texas is the county seat of Crockett County and Houston is the county seat of Harris County.  Don't even ask about Austin and Austin County!  That disparity just goes on and on, but there are a small number of counties which bear the same name as their county seat.

Mason has a population of 2,00 and seems like a sleepy little town.  I had never heard of it until I became interested in historic courthouses.  It is 260 miles southwest of Dallas, 270 miles slightly northeast of Houston, 470 miles east of El Paso, and 340 miles west of my home near Garrison.   In other words, it's pretty much out in the middle of nowhere.

On one side of the square across the street from the courthouse sits the Odeon Theater.  The old Model A (am I right about that, classic car aficionados?) was what drew my eye to this scene.

And this photo is for Birdman of pORTcITYdAILYpHOTO, who once asked me,"Aren't there any Lutheran churches in Texas," after I posted a plethora of pictures of Catholic churches.  On my way out of Mason toward Llano I came to a screeching halt when I saw St. Paul Lutheran Church, a small but spectacular building on the edge of town.  A historical marker says descendants of many of those original German settlers are members of this church.  The present building was constructed in 1905 from native stone. The building materials look remarkably similar to the jail.  Interesting and thought-provoking!

Historic Victoria - Part 1

St. Mary's is the second oldest Catholic Church in Texas (the oldest is the San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio which I had the privilege of seeing and photographing last December), having been established in 1840.

In 1866 five sisters from a group of nuns in Brownsville came to Victoria and established a convent called  the Monastery of Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament after their original order in Lyons, France, and one year later opened a school which eventually became known as the Nazareth Academy .  Today the school is in more modern quarters behind this building.  The Academy attained high school status in the early 1900s,  now has students K through 8th grade and is one of the oldest Catholic schools in the state.  This building was constructed in 1904 and is next door to St. Mary's about one block south of DeLeon Plaza.

Three blocks from the courthouse sits this beautifully detailed Queen Anne house, built by Joseph D. Mitchell in 1893.  Mitchell was a successful rancher, civic leader, legislator and naturalist who also enjoyed national recognition as a conchologist and entomologist.  The house eventually became a mortuary after the death of Mitchell and his wife and in 2009 it underwent a complete restoration and now serves as office suites for several local businesses.

I know nothing about this beautiful home and simply took the photo because of its beauty with the gated drive, wrought iron fence, and luscious pink azaleas which were in full bloom at the time of my visit to Victoria.

Next door to the Mitchell House was this house with a very unusual "spider web" door.  The house was very pretty but my eye was drawn to the doorway and I didn't take any other photos.  My research later revealed that originally it belonged to Thomas D. O'Connor, a legendary cattle king who lived in Victoria. It is still occupied by descendants of the original owner.

TOMORROW:  Historic Victoria - Part 2

St. Mary's of the Assumption

St. Mary's of the Assumption in the community of Praha is the home of one of the famed painted churches my cousin and I visited on our wildflower and painted churches trip in April.  Unfortunately we were unable to view the inside because of a renovation which is currently taking place.

Praha was once a thriving little town settled by Czech immigrants in Central Texas.  Today it's population is 25, although many parishioners from surrounding areas call this their mother church.  The church renovations are scheduled to be complete by August 15th in time for the annual Feast of the Assumption homecoming festival when literally thousands come for the festivities which have been held on August 15 of every year since 1855.

Other than being the home to St. Mary's, Praha's only other distinction is being the town which suffered the largest ratio of war deaths during World War II than any other place in the U.S. when nine young men from Praha gave their lives between February 1944 and February 1945 fighting to defeat the Axis powers.  All good Czech boys, their names were Robert Bohuslav, Rudolph Barta, George Pavlicek, Jerry Vaculik, Joseph Lev, Eddie Sbrusch, Edward Marek, Adolph Rab, and Anton Kresta.  Three identical memorials have been built in their honor on the grounds of the church and they are remembered in services each Memorial Day.

The Beauty at High Hill

St. Mary's is considered the queen of the painted churches.  And you can see why.  A massive year-long restoration of the artistry was accomplished in 2011.

Birdman asked if there are any Lutheran churches in Texas.  Yes, Birdman, there are, but between 70 and 90 percent of the Czech immigrants were of the Catholic faith.

Czechs began immigrating to Texas in the 1850s and immigration continued until after the turn of the century.  They came primarily from Bohemia, Moravia, and Austrian Silesia because of the abundant availability of good, cheap farmland and the Czechs and Germans were instrumental in establishing the heartland of Texas.  By the turn of the century over 250 Czech communities had been established.  Today there are 200,000 Czech Texans, over 13,000 who still speak Czech dialects.

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.

The Architecture of Cuero

After meeting up with the lady in the green shirt at the DeWitt County Couthouse who had suggested we return in about 20 minutes during afternoon business hours so she could arrange for our personal tour of the bell tour, we drove through the small town of Cuero and found lots of wonderful Victorian architecture.  The building in the photo above  is the J. Stratton Building, constructed in 1894 by John Stratton, a local entrepreneur.  The turret features three windows with curved glass.    Over the years since 1894 the building has been the home of a saddlery operated by Stratton, a hotel, known at various times as the Navidad, the Florence and the Texas Hotel.  It has also housed a butane gas company, the Cuero Chamber of Commerce, an insurance agency, a shoe repair shop, a pool hall, and even a bowling alley at one time in the basement.  Today it seems to be vacant and waiting for a tenant.  Wouldn't it be grand to have an apartment on the upper floor with perhaps a lovely Queen Anne sitting room underneath that turret and watch the traffic go by on the main drag of town?

On the opposite corner sits this fabulous building which at least appears to be somewhat occupied.

St. Michael's Catholic Church, another outstanding example
of church architecture in Texas

Parish established in 1875

Current building erected in 1931

Sorry for my unplanned and unannounced absence from blogging.  I've been inundated with work and we've been inundated with storms, tornados and devastating rains.  It's literally been raining here since December 26.  I'm not exaggering when I say there's probably been less than 15 days since that time that we've been dry for a complete 24-hour period.  I live in an area that has managed to dodge the bullet several times (last night a damaging tornado just 18 miles from here) but it's getting a little distressing to have your life and your land constantly uprooted by these devastating floods.  The next 10 days are forecast for eight days of rain, one day of sun, and one day of some sun and some rain.  I'll try to get back on track and visit you all in the next few days. 

The Church at Ammannsville

One of the painted churches of Fayette County, Texas, St. John the Baptist Catholic Church rises over the small community of Ammannsville, settled by Czech immigrants in 1870.  This beautiful Gothic Revival church was built in 1917, the third such edifice to be built upon the site, the first having been destroyed in the 1909 hurricane and the second devastated by a fire.

The interior of the church is painted and is considered to be more purely ornamental than the other churches in the group.  The stenciling, infill, freehand work and marbling techniques is believed to have been done by a European drifter.

The sanctuary is dominated by one hue, a warm pink, with contrasting colors of blue and green.

 The fire of 1917 was so intense it actually melted the church bell.

In the midst of the blaze, villagers risked their lives and rushed into the burning building to rescue some of the statues which still stand today inside the church.

Many of the early settlers of this area are buried in the adjoining cemetery.

Ammannsville is an unincorporated community with only a few remaining buildings.  Its post office closed in 1906 before the church was even constructed.