Sacred Heart Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll spin it out just the way it's written. Way back in Anderson County, there was a Church of St. Joseph, standing since 1874, built on a piece of land given by the International and Great Northern Railway.

Now that's a fine start to a story. A church with railroad roots. But 1890 rolled around, and fire had its say.

That church was destroyed. Gone. And if you think that's where the story ends, well, you don't know Anderson County.

Later that very same year, 1890, they started again. This time in handmade brick. Not bought brick, not shipped brick.

Handmade. And the man they brought in to draw it up was Nicholas J. Clayton, out of Galveston.

The building that rose from those ashes became Sacred Heart Church, successor to everything that came before it. A church born from fire, built by hand, designed by a Galveston architect, on ground a railroad once gave away. Some foundations, friend, run deeper than the soil they're set in.

What the marker says

Successor to 1874 Church of St. Joseph, built on site given by International & Great Northern Railway, and destroyed by fire in 1890. This building of handmade brick was begun later that year; Nicholas J. Clayton of Galveston was the architect. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1964