When I think about the Catholic Church in Texas, I think of Spanish colonizers and their aftermath. But here in Medina County, Catholics from Alsace, France, came, saw, and (if not conquered) made their mark, and that mark includes architecture, food and churches.
My sister brought us here to see the ruins of Saint Dominic Catholic Church, and it was like touring an ancient European abbey. Which it is, in an American sense. A congregation formed in 1847 when D’Hanis colony was founded; in 1853, the town became a mission parish and the church was built of local limestone. According to church records, the timber frame was hauled by ox-cart from the Medina River. In 1868, the first resident pastor arrived, and a sandstone extension was built just for him. The cemetery in back dates to 1847, beginning with the burial of a child of settlers from Alsace. Some of the graves are in German, others in what looks like an Alsatian dialect.
As for the ruins? Blame the saga of the American rails. Southern Pacific Railroad missed the town — with grievous economic impact. So, not to be ignored, in 1913 the town moved 1.5 miles west to “New” D’Hanis. And so did the parish church. And now we see what happens to a church ignored for 100 years….
NB: In the mid 1800s, two towns were established by Alsatian immigrants (the local info terms them “settlers”) who’d been led to Texas by a count named Castro and his representative, Theodore Gentilz. Castroville (named for the count) and D’Hanis (the surname of the “Manager of the Colonization Society”) remain strongly marked by the influx, with dozens of residents who can trace their line back to the initial settlement.
ab chaos iter: you get educated by traveling 