DUANE
Duane's take
The marker's the one telling this tale, and I'm just Duane passing it along to you. Now, railroads have a way of changing a place — and when the railroad arrived in Palestine, Texas, it brought workers. A good number of those workers were Catholic, and they had children, and those children needed schooling in the faith.
That's where our story begins. It was 1882 when Mother St. Andrew Felton, Superior General of the Sisters of Divine Providence over in Castroville, Texas, made a decision.
She sent three sisters to Palestine to establish religious education. Three women, a new town, and a mission. Sister Mary Flavienne Braun was appointed Superior and principal of the school — and what they built together became St.
Mary's Academy. Those early classes were held in a three-room frame schoolhouse on Lacy Street. Three rooms doesn't sound like much, but what went on inside those walls was something.
Basic education, classes in religion — and then, in a touch that must have raised an eyebrow or two out on the Texas frontier, instruction in French and elocution. Elocution. In Palestine, Texas.
In 1882. You have to admire the ambition. The citizens of Palestine took notice, and they contributed generously to a fund to relocate the school.
Sometime in the 1880s, St. Mary's moved to this very site, setting up in two houses. Then came a north wing — a chapel, classrooms, dormitories.
The place was growing. By 1900, growth demanded more. A south wing was added to accommodate the increase in both day students and boarding pupils.
The first floor held an auditorium. The top floor held more dormitories. What had started with three sisters and a three-room schoolhouse had become something that filled a city block with learning and purpose.
But here's the thing about institutions — they follow the tides. Enrollment dropped, and in 1949 St. Mary's High School was closed.
A reduced teaching staff kept the doors open for grades one through eight, holding on as long as they could. In 1966, the school was closed permanently. Nearly eighty-five years after those first three sisters stepped off a train in Palestine, the last lesson was taught.
The building went quiet. But the story of what was built here — out of a railroad town's need and one woman's decision to answer it — that doesn't close.
What the marker says
The arrival of the railroad in Palestine brought many workers, several of whom were Catholic who wanted religious instruction for their children. St. Mary's Academy began in 1882 when Mother St. Andrew Felton, Superior General of the Sisters of Divine Providence located at Castroville, Texas, sent three sisters to establish religious education here. Sister Mary Flavienne Braun was appointed Superior and principal of the school. Classes were held in a three-room frame schoolhouse on Lacy Street. Basic education and classes in religion were supplemented with instruction in French and elocution. The citizens of Palestine contributed generously to a fund to relocate the school, which was moved to this site in the 1880s to occupy two houses. North wing was added that included a chapel, classrooms, and dormitories. By 1900 a south wing was added to accommodate the increase in both day students and boarding pupils. The addition contained an auditorium on the first floor and dormitories on the top floor. St. Mary's High School was closed in 1949 due to a decrease in enrollment. A reduced teaching staff continued to operate the facility for grades 1-8, but the school was closed permanently in 1966. (1997)