DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Galveston County. Now settle in, because this one starts with a single room and ends up carrying the weight of a whole community through wind and water and time. In 1886, Bishop Nicholas A.
Gallagher opened an elementary school for African American children in a one-room cottage — just a cottage, mind you — on 12th Street and Avenue K. The Dominican sisters were the first to staff it. And that little school grew so fast, so hungry for what it was offering, that just two years later a new and larger school had to open to hold it all.
The bishop himself celebrated mass at the school on Sundays, and that small congregation — worshipping in a school, in a city that wasn't exactly rolling out the welcome mat — became the nucleus of a new parish. In December of 1889, Fr. Philip Keller was appointed the first pastor.
Then in 1898, the Sisters of the Holy Family took charge of the school. Now here's something worth pausin' on: they were the first African American sisters to teach in diocesan schools in Texas. First.
Under their care, the school was incorporated as the Holy Rosary Industrial School and orphan's home. A school, a church, a refuge — this place was becoming something larger than any one-room cottage could have predicted. Then 1900 arrived.
You already know what that means if you know Galveston. The great storm. More than 200 people found safe refuge at the parish — 200 souls pressing into those walls while everything outside came apart.
The buildings were badly damaged, but the people came through. The Josephite fathers took over administration of the parish in 1913, and one year later the parish moved to its current site on 31st Street and Avenue N. In 1927, the first Catholic high school for African Americans opened right here — a first, again — and it ran until 1951.
By 1958, the parish had a new church, a convent, and an elementary school. Then 2008 came, and Hurricane Ike hit hard. Of all those buildings, only the church could be restored.
Just the church — which, when you think about it, is the part that started this whole story in the first place. Today, Holy Rosary Church forms part of the Holy Family Parish in Galveston, uniting the historic Catholic churches of that city dating all the way back to 1839. One room on 12th Street.
More than a century of firsts. And still standing.
What the marker says
Holy Rosary Church, one of the first African American catholic parishes in Texas, had its beginnings in a school. In 1886, Bishop Nicholas A. Gallagher opened an elementary school for African American children in a one-room cottage on 12th Street and Avenue K. The Dominican sisters were the first to staff the school. It grew so rapidly that a new and larger school opened just two years later. The bishop celebrated mass at the school on Sundays, and the small congregation became the nucleus of a new parish. As the church and school grew, Fr. Philip Keller was appointed the first pastor in December of 1889. The Sisters of the Holy Family took charge of the school in 1898. They were the first African American sisters to teach in diocesan schools in Texas. Under the sisters, the school was incorporated as the Holy Rosary Industrial School and orphan’s home. More than 200 people found safe refuge at the parish during the great 1900 storm, but the buildings were badly damaged. In 1913, the Josephite fathers took over the administration of the parish. One year later, the parish moved to this site on 31st Street and Avenue N. Here the first catholic high school for African Americans opened in 1927 (closing in 1951). By 1958, the parish had a new church, convent and elementary school. Due to damages sustained in hurricane Ike in 2008, only the church could be restored. Today, holy rosary church forms part of the Holy Family Parish in Galveston, uniting the historic catholic churches in Galveston dating back to 1839. (2017)