DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker at Sacred Heart Church has to say — and friend, this one's worth every word. Catholic services on Galveston Island go back to 1838 — before the Republic of Texas was even a memory, before the city had much of anything worth calling a skyline. But faith has a way of outgrowing its walls, and by 1884, after years of growth under leaders including Bishop J.
M. Odin, the Galveston Diocese decided the island needed something more. Sacred Heart was established as the fourth church on the island.
Four. And right away it had work to do. While its first permanent home was being planned, the congregation gathered in the St.
Mary's University building — holding services there until 1892, when the parish's first real structure was finally completed. Now, that building was designed by Nicholas J. Clayton, a noted Galveston architect.
A man with a reputation. And the structure he gave them must have been something to see. Must have been.
Because in the year 1900, a hurricane came to Galveston. You already know the name of that storm lives heavy in Texas history. And that first Sacred Heart Church — Clayton's church — was destroyed.
Gone. But here is where the story turns, the way good stories do. The parish didn't disappear with it.
Under the pastorate of the Reverend D. J. Murphy, a new building went up between 1903 and 1904.
The second structure for the parish. And this time they built something that wasn't going to be easy to forget. Ornate octagonal towers reaching up into that Gulf Coast sky.
Flying buttresses. Elaborate ornamentation. A variety of arches.
The design pulls from Moorish, Byzantine, Gothic, and Romanesque influences all at once — and somehow, somehow, it holds together into one of the most prominent landmarks in the city of Galveston. Then 1915 rolls around, and another hurricane takes a swing at the place — damages the original dome. And who gets called in to redesign it?
Nicholas J. Clayton. The same architect who had watched his first Sacred Heart get swallowed by the storm of 1900 came back and put his hand to the building that replaced it.
Since the 1880s, many of Galveston's prominent business, professional, civic, and religious leaders have been associated with this parish. That's not just a church — that's the heartbeat of a city that has been knocked down more than once and chosen, every single time, to build back higher.
What the marker says
The earliest Catholic services in the Galveston area were conducted in 1838. In 1884, as a result of the church's growth under the direction of such leaders as Bishop J. M. Odin, the Galveston Diocese established Sacred Heart as the fourth church on the island. Services for Sacred Heart Church were held in the St. Mary's University building until 1892, when the parish's first structure was completed. Designed by the noted Galveston architect Nicholas J. Clayton, it was destroyed in the 1900 hurricane. The present building, the second for the parish, was constructed in 1903-04 during the pastorate of the Rev. D. J. Murphy. A prominent landmark in the city, it features ornate octagonal towers, flying buttresses, elaborate ornamentation, and a variety of arches. The design reflects influences of the Moorish, Byzantine, Gothic and Romanesque styles. The building's original dome, damaged in a 1915 hurricane, was redesigned by Nicholas Clayton. Sacred Heart Church has played a significant role in the growth and development of Galveston. Since the 1880s, many of the city's prominent business, professional, civic and religious leaders have been associated with the parish. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1981