St. Joseph Catholic Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way out in the Davis Mountains, in one of the loneliest stretches of Texas you'll ever have the pleasure of getting lost in, a Catholic congregation took root, and what grew from that root spread all the way across the Trans-Pecos and into the Big Bend. Catholic clergy had already begun serving residents of the Fort Davis area around 1872, but the story really starts to take shape in 1876, when Father Joseph Hoban was appointed pastor.

Three years later, in 1879, the first St. Joseph Catholic Church building went up. That's a church with a foundation, a name, and a reason to stay.

And Father Hoban stayed; until he didn't, and then the circuit-riders came. These were priests who regarded St. Joseph's as the central church of the whole region, and they rode out from here like spokes on a wheel, carrying the faith across hard country.

Then, in 1892, Father Brocardus Eeken arrived in Fort Davis. Now here is a man who understood that a congregation isn't always a building. He and his fellow Carmelite friars (and you heard me right, Carmelite friars, out here in the Chihuahuan Desert) traveled thousands of miles each year, ministering to eighteen churches and mission stations scattered across the Trans-Pecos and the Big Bend.

Thousands of miles. Eighteen outposts. The math alone is enough to make you tired.

In 1899, a new church was consecrated in Fort Davis: a new heart for all that territory. And from this single parish, many others were born, including the parishes in Alpine and Marfa. Father Brocardus kept at it until 1935, when he finally retired, having given this place and this landscape more than four decades of his life.

St. Joseph Catholic Church is still standing, still serving a large and diverse congregation. Some roots, it turns out, go all the way down to bedrock.

What the marker says

Catholic clergy began serving residents of the Fort Davis area about 1872. Father Joseph Hoban was appointed pastor in 1876 and the First St Joseph Catholic Church building was erected in 1879. Father Hoban was followed by circuit-riding priest who regarded St. Joseph's as the central church of the region. Father Brocardus Eeken came to Fort Davis in 1892. He and fellow Carmelite friars traveled thousands of miles each year, ministering to the 18 churches and mission stations in the Trans-Pecos and Big Bend. A new church was consecrated in 1899. Many parishes, including those in Alpine and Marfa, were created from this parish. father Brocardus retired in 1935. St Joseph Catholic Church continues to serve a large and diverse congregation. (1999)