St. Ann's Catholic Church
Kosciusko, Wilson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1880, about sixty families of Polish descent (Silesian Poles) bought the land in this sparsely settled area. After their arrival, the town became known as Kosciuszko, named after the noted Polish American hero, General Thaddeus Kosciuszko. In 1892 the polish settlers built their first Polish Catholic school, St. Ann's. It was a small one-room school, run by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word. The Sisters lived in a room attached to the school. In 1898, under the direction of the Reverend Stanislaus Przyborowski, then pastor of nativity of the blessed Virgin Mary in Czestochowa, the people of Kosciuszko gathered together and built their first Catholic church for $2,000 plus donations. The small wooden structure measured 80 feet by 40 feet and was one of the largest churches in Wilson County at that time. Also named St. Ann's, the church was dedicated on October 27, 1898. It was a mission of Czestochowa for three years. In 1901 a rectory and cemetery were established. The first convent for the Sisters of Charity was built in 1918. By 1933 there were 146 families in the parish and the small wooden church was enlarged by 25 feet. The congregation continued to grow. A Polish choir and various societies were organized in the church over the years. In 1951 a new church building was erected. It had a modified Gothic design and included two sacristies, a baptistry and a large sanctuary. On October 25, 1998, St. Ann's Catholic Church celebrated its centennial. At that time, the parish consisted of 224 families. Parishioners continue to practice the traditions of their ancestors. St. Ann's Catholic Church remains the center of this small Polish Community. (1999)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1880 some sixty Silesian Polish families bought land in this quiet corner of Wilson County and named their community Kosciuszko for the Polish-born hero of the American Revolution. They opened a one-room Catholic school, St. Ann's, in 1892 and raised a large wooden church of the same name in 1898, one of the biggest in the county. Through choirs, societies, and a growing parish, St. Ann's became the enduring heart of a Polish community that still keeps its ancestors' traditions.
Why it matters
St. Ann's shows how nineteenth-century Polish immigrants planted a lasting ethnic and religious enclave on the Texas prairie, one of the Silesian settlements that make the region a cradle of Polish America.
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Related people
- · Rev. Stanislaus Przyborowski
Themes & tags
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