Sacred Heart Catholic Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. The town of Wadsworth. Established 1909.

And not long after folks started putting down roots there, something was already taking shape on the corner of 1st and Avenue H. A two-story building. Church on one side of that equation, school on the other.

Sacred Heart Catholic Church and School, raised up in 1912, and it took a village to do it. John H. and Anna Ottis, early residents of Wadsworth, went and got some help. Galveston Bishop N.

A. Gallagher lent his support. The Reverend George Montreuil was in on it.

Catholics from across the area pitched in. Two stories. Corner lot.

Done. Now, the school, well, the school closed after two years. That part of the story ends quietly.

But the services, the Catholic services, those continued right on through. Then came the road. Road construction has a way of changin' the lay of things, and it changed things here.

The Reverend M. J. O'Regan and the congregation faced a choice, and what they chose is worth remembering.

They didn't abandon that original sanctuary. They reassembled it. Picked it up, in a manner of speaking, and put it back together here, in its new location, in 1924.

That's not giving up. That's something closer to stubbornness, and in the best possible way. Sacred Heart Catholic Church is still standing, still serving, still a mission of Holy Cross Catholic Church over in Bay City.

From a corner lot in 1912 to here, and still going. Some buildings tell you everything you need to know about the people who built them.

What the marker says

Early residents of Wadsworth (est. 1909) John H. and Anna Ottis received help from Galveston Bishop N.A. Gallagher, the Rev. George Montreuil, and other Catholics in the area to erect the 2-story Sacred Heart Catholic Church/School building in 1912 at the corner of 1st and Ave. H. Though the school closed after 2 years Catholic services were continued. Road construction prompted the Rev. M.J. O'Regan and the congregation to reassemble the original sanctuary here in 1924. Sacred Heart continues to serve the community as a mission of Bay City's Holy Cross Catholic Church. (1993)