Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church
Mission, Hidalgo County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This church was established in 1899 as the first mission of the historic La Lomita Church (5 mi. S). Originally known as Our Lady of the Mission (Nuestra Senora de la Mission), it was renamed Our Lady of Guadalupe (Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe) in 1927 when this structure was built. The Mission Revival-inspired structure features a four-story tower capped by a domed belfry; mission parapets; arched windows; and elaborate limestone detailing. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1990
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Established in 1899 as the first mission of the historic La Lomita Church, this Rio Grande Valley parish first served its border community as Our Lady of the Mission before being renamed for Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1927, when the present church was built. The Mission Revival structure, with its domed belfry tower, mission parapets, and limestone detailing, reflects the deep Catholic heritage of the Mexican-American borderlands. It has anchored the faith of Mission, Texas, for over a century.
Why it matters
It reflects the enduring Catholic and Mexican-American cultural roots of the Rio Grande Valley border region.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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In the booming early-1900s Rio Grande Valley, Spanish immigrant and bricklayer Juan Bautista Barberá opened Teatro La Paz around 1912, bringing films, touring lecturers, actors, and musicians to the young farming town of Mission. Renamed the Río Theatre after Enrique Flores bought it in 1945, the modest vernacular commercial building has anchored the town's cultural life for over a century. It was recognized as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1982.
Leo Najo
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First Presbyterian Church of Mission
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In 1909 Dr. Samuel McPheeters Glasgow preached Mission's first sermon and started a Sunday school, and with Dr. M. W. Doggett organized the First Presbyterian Church of Mission in January 1910; the two also helped plant churches across the Valley. A small wooden building went up by April 1910, replaced by larger complexes in 1955 and 2005. Over the decades its services drew notable visitors, and the congregation sustained wide-ranging charitable work.
La Lomita Farms
Mission, TX
In 1849 French priests of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate fanned out from Brownsville to minister across the lower Rio Grande Valley, and a Reynosa merchant named Rene Guyard gave them part of his Rancho La Lomita for a mission to serve his ranch hands. The first chapel rose here in 1865, and after Guyard's 1871 death the Oblates inherited the land, farming it to fund further missionary work. Though the farm proved a financial drain and most of it was sold in 1909, the little La Lomita Chapel gave its name to the nearby town of Mission.