Saint Paul's Episcopal Church
Navasota, Grimes County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1864, Bishop Alexander Gregg organized an Episcopal mission in Navasota that became a parish in 1866. Originally known as the Church of the Holy Comforter, it was renamed in 1870, when the church building from St. Paul's in Washington (7 mi. SW) was acquired and relocated to Navasota on land donated by the Houston and Texas Central Railway. The congregation completed a new church building in 1891. Throughout its history, St. Paul's has been actively involved in the community with worship, education, and outreach programs.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Founded as an Episcopal mission in 1864 during the closing year of the Civil War, this Navasota congregation became a parish in 1866 and took the name St. Paul's in 1870. In a resourceful move common on the frontier, the congregation acquired an existing church building from St. Paul's in nearby Washington and relocated it onto land donated by the Houston and Texas Central Railway, later replacing it with a new sanctuary in 1891. For generations the parish has anchored the town through worship, education, and outreach.
Why it matters
The church's traveling building and railroad-donated ground reflect how faith communities and expanding rail lines together shaped the growth of small Texas towns after the Civil War.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Bishop Alexander Gregg
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
College Station Railroad Depots
College Station, TX
The commissioners who chose this spot for Texas A&M in 1871 did so largely because the Houston and Texas Central rail line already ran past it. Though no depot yet stood here when the college opened in 1876, conductors calling out the stop as "College Station" gave the surrounding town its name. Depots built by the H&TC and the International & Great Northern carried generations of cadets to and from campus until passenger service ended in 1959.
First Baptist Church of Navasota
Navasota, TX
Six men founded this church in the spring of 1860, one of the first congregations of any faith in the young railroad town of Navasota. The Houston & Texas Central Railway donated the site, and a native-stone sanctuary — planned by the pastor's wife, Mrs. A. E. Baten — was completed in 1890. That 1890 building survived fire and still stands after restoration in 1971.
Site of Freeman Inn
Navasota, TX
Ira M. Freeman built this two-story pine inn in 1856 as a way station and hotel for passengers on the several stage lines threading through Navasota. Travelers of every sort lodged here — among them Sam Houston — and during the Civil War it hosted officers and important visitors, while Freeman's barns sheltered the coaches and teams.
La Bahia Trail
Navasota, TX
Long before wagon wheels cut its ruts, this was a Native footpath threading southern Texas and Louisiana. In 1690 Alonso de León and the Franciscan Father Massanet marched a small army of men, horses, and pack-flour along it to found the Mission of San Francisco de los Tejas near the Neches—naming the church, and eventually the state, for the 'friendly' Tejas people. By the 1800s the same corridor had become the Opelousas Road, driving Texas cattle to distant markets.