Christ Church
Matagorda County, Matagorda County, Texas
Marker Inscription
On a site approximately 400 yards east stood Christ Church. First Episcopal church in Texas. Organized January 27, 1839. The Rev. Caleb S. Ives, Rector. Building consecrated February 25, 1844 by the Rt. Rev. Leonidas Polk,, D.D., Bishop of Louisiana. Diocese of Texas established January 1, 1849. Building destroyed by hurricane September 11, 1854. Rebuilt on present site. The Rev. Mr. Ives and his wife established and taught an early school in connection with the parish.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Organized on January 27, 1839, Christ Church was the first Episcopal church in Texas, established when the young Republic was barely three years old. Its building was consecrated in 1844 by the Bishop of Louisiana, and the parish helped anchor the founding of the Diocese of Texas in 1849. A hurricane destroyed the original structure in 1854, and it was rebuilt on the present site; the rector, the Rev. Caleb S. Ives, and his wife also ran one of the area's early schools.
Why it matters
It marks the arrival of organized Protestant faith and formal education on the Gulf frontier of the Texas Republic, institutions that helped root permanent Anglo settlement.
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Related people
- · Rev. Caleb S. Ives
- · Rt. Rev. Leonidas Polk
Related events
- · Establishment of the Diocese of Texas (1849)
- · Hurricane of September 1854
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Christ Episcopal Church
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Christ Episcopal Church traces its roots to 1838, when the Rev. Caleb S. Ives arrived as a missionary to the Republic of Texas and held his first service on Christmas Day. Formally organized in 1839, the parish built its first church by 1841 and ran the Matagorda Academy alongside it. After an 1854 hurricane destroyed the original, this building rose nearby in 1856, reusing salvaged altar, rail, and pews—surviving storm after storm as the oldest Episcopal congregation in Texas.
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