HistoricSiteMarkers
Progressive & Modern Era

San Francisco Di Paola Catholic Church

San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas

Marker Inscription

In 1926, at the request of the city's Italian Catholics, Dioscesan officials invited the Rev. Saverio Vecchio to preach a mission. A s a result, the congregation of San Francesco DI Paola was organized. Designed by Richard Vander Stratten and built by Luigi L. Guido and Vincenzo Falbo, this Romanesque structure with decorative stone detailing, round-arched stained glass windows, and spire was dedicated on May 1, 1927, by arch-bishop A. J. Drossaerts. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1992

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

In 1926, San Antonio's Italian Catholics asked diocesan officials for a mission, and the visiting Rev. Saverio Vecchio helped gather them into a new congregation dedicated to San Francesco di Paola. Designed by Richard Vander Stratten and built by Italian craftsmen Luigi Guido and Vincenzo Falbo, the Romanesque church rose quickly, its stone detailing, round-arched stained-glass windows, and spire dedicated by the archbishop on May 1, 1927. It gave the city's Italian immigrant community a spiritual home of its own.

Why it matters

The church stands as a testament to the Italian immigrants who enriched San Antonio, building an ethnic parish that expressed both their faith and their heritage.

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Related people

  • · Saverio Vecchio
  • · Richard Vander Stratten
  • · Luigi L. Guido
  • · Vincenzo Falbo
  • · A. J. Drossaerts

Themes & tags

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Italian American Community in San Antonio

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Italian immigrants began settling northwest of downtown San Antonio in the 1870s, and by 1890 enough families had gathered to charter the Christopher Columbus Italian Society in a fruit store on Commerce Street. Over the following decades the society built a hall and helped found San Francesco Di Paola Church, and in 1957 it dedicated a statue of the explorer in what became Columbus Park.

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Built in 1927 by the Christopher Columbus Italian Society to complement the San Francesco di Paola Catholic Church next door, this hall was dedicated in early 1928 as a gathering place for San Antonio's Italian community. Designed by Richard Vander Stratten and constructed by Luigi L. Guido and Vincenzo Falbo, it is a refined example of classical form, with decorative brickwork, pilasters, and stone detailing. It has long served as the social and cultural center of the city's Italian Americans.

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