Original Site of St. Mary's Episcopal Church
Bellville, Austin County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Original Site of St. Mary's Episcopal Church Anglicans in Bellville began gathering for informal worship services in the 1850s at the home of Bellville attorney Nehemiah Holland. In 1861, Bishop Alexander Gregg held the first official service in the Masonic lodge building. Under the leadership of the Rev. Daniel Shaver, St. Mary's was admitted to the Diocese of Texas as a new congregation the following year. Charter members included Nehemiah Holland, Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin T. Harris, Charles H. Harris, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Reese Blake, William and Sarah Paine Thompson, and Robert and Rebecca Chambers Paine. A period of marked growth during the 1870s under the leadership of the Rev. Lindsey P. Rucker and dedicated lay members led to the purchase of property at this site, and the congregation constructed Bellville's first church building. Described as a wooden structure with Gothic Revival features and stained glass windows from Munich, Germany, the building was consecrated in 1881. The first funeral in the new church building was for Nehemiah Holland, considered to be St. Mary's founder. After 80 years of service to the congregation, the original building was replaced with a new structure on the adjacent lot in 1961. Additional facilities, including a parish hall and education wing, were built to accommodate the ministries of the parish. St. Mary's Episcopal Church remains a significant part of the religious and cultural history of Bellville as it continues a strong tradition of worship, education and outreach activities. (2002)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Anglicans in Bellville first gathered in a lawyer's parlor in the 1850s, and in 1861 a bishop held the town's first Episcopal service in the Masonic lodge. Growth through the 1870s allowed the congregation to buy this lot and raise Bellville's first church building — a wooden Gothic Revival structure lit by stained glass shipped from Munich and consecrated in 1881. That building served eighty years before a new church rose next door.
Why it matters
The story traces how frontier Texas towns matured from improvised worship in borrowed rooms into settled congregations with permanent architecture, mapping the spread of institutional religion across the American South.
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Related people
- · Nehemiah Holland
- · Bishop Alexander Gregg
- · Daniel Shaver
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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Chartered in 1858 with roots in the Chappell Hill lodge, Bellville Lodge No. 223 raised a two-story building on this spot the same year. Fraternal meetings filled the upper floor while the ground floor served as church and schoolhouse until 1881—a common arrangement in young Texas towns where one building had to do the work of many. Its early members shaped the community's political, business, and religious life.
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