St. Anthony Catholic Church
Longview, Gregg County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1880, St. Anthony parish was established in longview with circuit-riding priests providing church services. In 1884, a frame structure was built, serving the congregation until 1940 when a new facility was commissioned. St. Anthony has been a cornerstone for the Hispanic population of Longview, conducting the first mass in Spanish in 1981. Cinco de Mayo celebrations were also held at the church for many years, sharing Mexican food and culture with the community. St. Anthony has been responsible for starting many other Catholic churches in the area and also St. Mary’s Catholic school. In 2005, St. Anthony celebrated 125 years of service, and it continues to be a bastion of faith for Longview.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
St. Anthony parish was established in Longview in 1880, served at first by circuit-riding priests before a frame church rose in 1884. Over the following century it became a cornerstone of the city's Hispanic community, celebrating its first Spanish-language Mass in 1981 and hosting Cinco de Mayo festivities that shared Mexican food and culture with all of Longview. The parish also helped seed other area Catholic churches and founded St. Mary's school.
Why it matters
St. Anthony illustrates how Catholic parishes anchored the faith, language, and cultural identity of Mexican American communities as they took root in East Texas.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Johnny Cace's Seafood and Steak House
Longview, TX
Johnny Cace, son of a Yugoslav immigrant fisherman from the Adriatic island of Prvic Luka, grew up around the seafood trade his family carried from Louisiana's oyster beds to Shreveport. In 1949 he opened Johnny Cace's Seafood and Steak House in Longview, living above the restaurant that became famous for fresh-shucked oysters and Creole cooking. A New Orleans–style building rose here in 1964, and the business grew into a beloved east Texas institution spanning three generations.
Temple Emanu-El
Longview, TX
The early-1900s oil boom drew Jewish families to the towns of northeast Texas, and by 1936 those scattered across the region gathered for worship in Kilgore's Temple Beth Sholom. Two decades later the community built its own sanctuary in Longview, shaped architecturally to evoke a menorah, and named it Temple Emanu-El, 'God is with us.' As the surrounding Jewish population thinned, the congregation became the keeper of the area's Jewish memory, education, and outreach.
Temple Emanu-El Cemetery
Longview, TX
In 1957 Jewish families in Longview broke away from Kilgore's Temple Beth Sholom to found their own synagogue, Temple Emanu-El, and set aside this burial ground within Memory Park Cemetery. It became only the second dedicated Jewish cemetery in Harrison County. Among those laid to rest here is Rabbi Charles Mantinband, a nationally known civil rights advocate who led the congregation in the turbulent 1960s.
John O'Byrne Home
Union Grove, TX
Irish immigrant John O'Byrne built this home in 1888 at the heart of the O'Byrne's Mill settlement, a busy little community of sawmill, planer, grist mill, and cotton gin. Father of thirteen, O'Byrne also raised the first Catholic church in Upshur County and started the community's first school. His home served as its social, cultural, and political center.