St. Francis Catholic Church
Matagorda County, Matagorda County, Texas
Marker Inscription
First Euro-American Roman Catholic Church in county. Land a gift of Mrs. Frank Seerden and Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Butter. In Polish Village. Rebuilt following 1895 hurricane destruction. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1965. 12 x 6 Supplemental Plate (1985) Later research showed original land donors were Mrs. Frank Seerden and her nephew Zeflick "Z" Butter.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
St. Francis was the first Euro-American Roman Catholic church in Matagorda County, built to serve a Polish immigrant settlement known as the Polish Village on land donated by local families. When an 1895 hurricane destroyed the building, the community rebuilt it. It was named a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1965.
Why it matters
The church marks the arrival of Central European Catholic immigrants who brought their faith and traditions to the Texas Gulf Coast.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Mrs. Frank Seerden
- · Zeflick "Z" Butter
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
First Burials in Matagorda Cemetery, Benjamin Wightman and Esther Randall Wightman
Matagorda, TX
Benjamin and Esther Wightman, Connecticut natives who had lived in New York's Herkimer County, followed their son Elias to Texas in 1828, arriving aboard "Little Zoe," the first sailing vessel to enter the port of Matagorda. Elias held the grant to the Matagorda town league under the Republic of Mexico, and his parents' graves became the first burials in the town cemetery.
Dr. Albert Moses Levy
Matagorda, TX
A Dutch immigrant who reached the United States in 1818 and trained as a physician, Albert Moses Levy threw in his lot with the Texas cause in the mid-1830s. He served as chief surgeon at the Siege of Bexar in late 1835 and later aboard a warship of the fledgling Texas Navy. Afterward he settled in the coastal town of Matagorda, married, and took an active hand in state and local affairs.
Site of Dream Colony of Jane McManus
Matagorda County, TX
In 1832, when Texas was still Mexican territory, Jane McManus hoped to plant a colony of thrifty European settlers on a Mexican land grant she ultimately never received. A New York congressman's daughter and friend of Stephen F. Austin, she remained devoted to Texas even after her colonial plans collapsed, later living at Eagle Pass and building a career as a journalist and author. She was, the marker notes, the only known woman among the era's empresarios.
First Baptist Church of Bay City
Bay City, TX
Rooted in a Matagorda County congregation of the early 1850s, this Baptist body organized at Red Bluff in 1889 and moved to the new county seat of Bay City in 1895, taking the name First Baptist Church. Its early members met in borrowed rooms and even a shared Union school before raising their first sanctuary in 1903, only to see a 1909 hurricane destroy it. Rebuilt in brick by 1915 and expanded through the mid-century, the church helped found other congregations and sponsored the Emmanuel Mexican Mission for decades.