St. John Catholic Church (of Bomarton)
Bomarton, Baylor County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Established in 1908, when services and Masses were held in Mary's Creek Schoolhouse or in home of Matt Marak. First Church edifice was built 1909, with John Cocek, Marak, Leopold Skrehot, and Alois Sykora, trustees. Father Paul Mosler was installed as first pastor in 1910. Brick church was built in 1936. (1970)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
St. John Catholic Church took root at Bomarton in 1908, when Masses were first said in the Mary's Creek schoolhouse and in the Marak family home. A first church went up in 1909 under trustees whose Czech surnames—Cocek, Marak, Skrehot, Sykora—signal the immigrant farm community that founded it, and a brick church followed in 1936. Its first resident pastor arrived in 1910.
Why it matters
Rural parishes like this trace the settlement of Central European Catholic immigrants across the Texas plains, where faith and language held newcomer communities together.
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Related people
- · Matt Marak
- · Paul Mosler
Themes & tags
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