St. Joseph Catholic Church
Odessa, Ector County, Texas
Marker Inscription
St. Joseph Catholic Church began in 1948 as a mission of St. Mary’s Church to provide for the needs of the Hispanic community of Odessa. The Catholic presence in west Texas can be traced back as far as the early 1500s with the arrival of explorers Cabeza de Vaca and Francisco Coronado, followed by Catholic missions. With westward expansion, settlements created the need for permanent church homes for the community. The first record of a Catholic priest ministering in Odessa was in 1904 when Monsignor Nolan preached at the old courthouse. Priests occasionally visited individual homes but no regularly scheduled services were held in Odessa until November 1937. St. Mary’s Church was established in 1938 and soon the need was evident for a Catholic church for the Hispanic community. In 1950, the church purchased an old army barracks to serve as the St. Joseph Mission. In 1955, father John Lucassen was the first full-time priest. The mission grew throughout the 1950s and, in 1965, the church was raised from a mission to a parish. The church continued to grow and serve the community of Odessa with spiritual guidance and outreach. St. Joseph established its own missions, including St. Martin de Porras and St. Anthony. St. Anthony quickly grew to be a recognized parish. From its humble beginnings as a mission to a thriving parish, serving more than 1,400 registered households, St. Joseph Catholic Church is a significant part of the Diocese of San Angelo, continuing to serve the spiritual needs of the catholic community of Odessa. (2017)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
St. Joseph Catholic Church began in 1948 as a mission of St. Mary's, founded to serve Odessa's growing Hispanic community, worshiping at first in a repurposed Army barracks bought in 1950. The Catholic presence in West Texas reached back to the era of Cabeza de Vaca and Coronado, but regular services in Odessa only began in the late 1930s. St. Joseph gained its first full-time priest in 1955, rose from mission to parish in 1965, and spun off its own missions, growing into a congregation of more than 1,400 households within the Diocese of San Angelo.
Why it matters
The parish traces the enduring faith and community-building of Mexican American Catholics in West Texas, a cornerstone of the region's Hispanic heritage.
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Themes & tags
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