Our Lady of Visitation Catholic Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm just the one passin' it along. Now, if you want a sign that something is meant to last, consider this: the day they laid the cornerstone for Our Lady of Visitation Catholic Church, a rare South Texas snowstorm rolled in. December 29, 1880.

South Texas. Snow. Some folks might've taken that as a bad omen.

Other folks, the kind who build churches, probably figured the sky itself was making a statement. The bricks that went into that Gothic Revival edifice weren't hauled from far away. They were made right nearby, at El Rancho de Santa Maria, owned by a man named L.J.

Hynes, and Hynes didn't just supply the bricks. He gave the land for the church. The building itself rose from plans drawn by Father Peter I.

Keralum, of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, and when it was finished, it was dedicated on June 29, 1882. The people of Bluetown, Santa Maria, and the surrounding communities came here to worship. They came through seasons, through decades, through whatever South Texas threw at them.

And South Texas, as it will, eventually threw a hurricane. Nineteen thirty-three. The wooden steeple was blown off.

The walls stood. The church stood. Some things get built in a snowstorm and they just plain intend to stay.

What the marker says

A rare South Texas snowstorm marked the cornerstone laying ceremonies for this church building, Dec. 29, 1880. The Gothic Revival edifice was constructed of bricks made at nearby El Rancho de Santa Maria, owned by L.J. Hynes, who gave land for the church. Built from plans drawn by Father Peter I. Keralum, O.M.I., the structure was dedicated June 29, 1882. The wooden steeple was blown off during a 1933 hurricane. Residents of Bluetown, Santa Maria, and neighboring communities worshiped here.