St. Louis Church
Castroville, Medina County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Built by Alsatian settlers of Castro Colony, in Republic of Texas. Dedicated by the Rt. Rev. John Odin, C.M., first Catholic Bishop of Texas, on Nov. 9, 1846. Claude Dubuis, 1847 pastor, was later a Bishop of Texas. Here in 1868 Sisters of Divine Providence opened their first permanent school in Texas. First mother house of order in Texas was established in Castroville. Marked on 100th Anniversary of founding The Sisters of Divine Providence in Texas. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1966.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Built by Alsatian immigrants of Henri Castro's colony in the Republic of Texas, St. Louis Church was dedicated in 1846 by John Odin, the first Catholic bishop of Texas. One of its early pastors, Claude Dubuis, later became a bishop himself. In 1868 the Sisters of Divine Providence opened their first permanent school in Texas here, and Castroville became the order's first mother house in the state.
Why it matters
It marks how European immigrant faith and teaching orders planted enduring religious and educational institutions on the Texas frontier.
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Related people
- · John Odin
- · Claude Dubuis
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church
Castroville, TX
Among the German settlers who reached this Castro colony in the 1840s were Lutherans who first worshiped in their homes until Rev. Christian Oefinger arrived from Bremen by way of Galveston. They organized Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1852 with a dozen charter members and, gathering their own rock, sand, and timber, built a stone church and parsonage. Pastor Oefinger even held Castroville's first public school classes in the church in 1857, and the congregation remains active today.
Site of Old St. Mary's
San Antonio, TX
As Irish, German, and other newcomers poured into San Antonio after Texas independence, the Catholic bishop of Galveston moved to serve these non-Hispanic worshippers with a church of their own. Land was purchased here in 1852, and by 1857 a Gothic building opened for both English- and German-speaking congregations. Over the decades the site nurtured a seminary, an early free parochial school, a major Catholic newspaper, and charitable societies, until the 1921 flood ruined the old church and a new Neo-Romanesque building rose in 1924.
Dubuis House
Castroville, TX
In 1847, in the newly settled Alsatian colony of Castroville, French priest Father Claude M. Dubuis and Father Chazelle raised the first two rooms of this house; Chazelle soon died of typhus. Dubuis, the colony's first priest, was twice captured by Comanches that same year yet escaped unharmed, and later rose to become Bishop of Texas. The dwelling was the colony's first example of French-Alsatian architecture and was named a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1966.
St. Louis Day
Castroville, TX
Since at least 1847 the Alsatian Catholic community of Castroville has kept a summer holiday around August 25, the Feast of St. Louis. Early processions escorted the clergy from the priests' house to the church amid clanging anvils and a blaring band, followed by a High Mass, pit-barbecued beef and sausage, homemade sides, and an evening dance. Organized by the St. Louis Society since 1875 and raising funds for the parish since 1889, the celebration still winds from the church to Koenig Park each year.