Site of Victoria's First Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way back in October of 1824, a man named Martin De Leon arrived in what would become Victoria, Texas. And one of the first things he did, one of the very first things, was erect a church.

Now that tells you something about a man. You roll into new territory, and before you've barely settled the dust off your boots, you're building a house of worship. That was Martin De Leon, founder of Victoria.

The church he built would go on to serve the community through the hands of several priests. Reverend Father Jose Miguel Muro. Reverend Father Jose Antonio Valdez.

And Reverend Father Antonio Diaz De Leon, O.M.F. Three men who kept that congregation alive in those early Texas years. But time, as it tends to do, took its toll on the old building.

By 1840, it needed restoring, and the man who answered that call was the Most Reverend John Mary Odin, the first Catholic Bishop of Texas. He brought it back. Then, in 1850, Father Agustine Gardet had the church removed entirely to the northwest corner of the lot where Nazareth Convent now stands.

So the building moved, the congregation moved, and the story moved right along with it. What started as one man's first act upon arriving in a new land became something the whole community carried forward, generation to generation. That's a foundation that outlasts any four walls.

What the marker says

Erected by Martin De Leon, founder of Victoria, soon after his arrival in October, 1824. Priests serving there were Rev. Fathers Jose Miguel Muro, Jose Antonio Valdez, Antonio Diaz De Leon, O.M.F. The church was restored in 1840 by Most Rev. John Mary Odin, first Catholic Bishop of Texas. In 1850 Father Agustine Gardet had it removed to the northwest corner of the lot where Nazareth Convent now stands. (1936)