St. Augustine Parochial School

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker for St. Augustine Parochial School has to say, and friend, this one's got a little bit of everything. Now, Laredo in the years after 1881 was a city on the move.

The railroad had arrived, and right behind it came a wave of exiles pouring into the city in the wake of the Mexican Revolution. Population climbing, community growing, and with it came a familiar need: another Catholic school. The Oblate fathers were placed in charge of the parish of San Agustín in 1922, and they got to work drawing up plans for a co-educational parochial school.

But plans need a shepherd, and that shepherd arrived in 1925 in the form of the Reverend Jesús Prieto, who came on as parish priest at San Agustín and didn't waste a minute. Under his leadership, funds were raised and property was obtained. The school was becoming real.

For the building itself, they brought in a San Antonio architect by the name of Luis Fuessel, who gave the structure something worth looking at. He worked elements of the Gothic Revival style into those pointed arch windows, and if you know your architecture, you know that's a choice that says: this place means something. Now here's where the story earns its drama.

Spring of 1927. Severe flooding hit. And yet, local contractors Mc.

W. Ryan and his apprentice, Alfonso Leyendecker, pushed through and completed the second floor of the building in time. In time for school to open on September 12, 1927.

Water rising all around, and they still made the deadline. That is a Texas kind of stubbornness. First principal of St.

Augustine School was Sister Philomena Hayes. She and the other sisters of the Order of Divine Providence lived on that building's third floor, making their home right there in the school itself. They stayed on that floor until 1948, when it was converted into classrooms and a new library.

The building growing, same as the community it served. Over the years, sisters and lay teachers educated students from both sides of the border, from Laredo and Nuevo Laredo both, and by all accounts they produced outstanding graduates. Then, in the 1976 to 1977 school year, St.

Augustine School relocated to the former campus of Ursuline Academy. But here's what I want you to hold onto. That original 1927 building, the one Ryan and Leyendecker finished in a flood, the one with those pointed Gothic arch windows, the one where Sister Philomena first called the school to order.

It's still standing. Still in use today, as meeting and religious education space for San Agustín parish. Some buildings outlast the floods that tried to stop them.

This is one of those buildings.

What the marker says

The arrival of the railroad in Laredo in 1881, along with the influx of exiles into the city after the Mexican Revolution, contributed to an increase in the city's population and the need for another Catholic school. In 1922, the Oblate fathers were placed in charge of the parish of San Agustín and began plans for a parochial co-educational school. Under the leadership of the Rev. Jesús Prieto, who arrived as parish priest at San Agustín in 1925, funds were raised and property obtained to make the school a reality. San Antonio architect Luis Fuessel designed this school building, incorporating elements of the Gothic Revival style in its pointed arch windows. Despite severe flooding in the spring of 1927, local contractors Mc. W. Ryan and his apprentice, Alfonso Leyendecker, completed the second floor of the building in time for school to open on Sept. 12, 1927. Sister Philomena Hayes served as first principal of St. Augustine School. She and the other sisters of the Order of Divine Providence resided on the third floor of this building until 1948, when that floor was converted for classrooms and a new library. Over the years, the sisters and lay teachers educated students from both Laredo and Nuevo Laredo and produced outstanding graduates. In the 1976-77 school year, St. Augustine School relocated to the former campus of Ursuline Academy. The original 1927 school building remains in use as meeting and religious education space for San Agustín parish. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2000