DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about St. Mary, Star of the Sea, Catholic Church in Runnels County. Now, every good story in Texas starts with somebody showing up with nothing but faith and determination, and this one's no different.
Long before there was a permanent home for the Catholic faithful in Ballinger, missionaries were making their rounds, holding early Roman Catholic worship services in a church building that went up in 1895. Think about that. A congregation gathering, finding their footing, making do with what they had.
But making do has a way of giving way to something more permanent, if you're patient enough. By 1910, during the pastorate of the Reverend J. B.
Frigon, that something more permanent was finished. Completed. Ready.
And here's where the story gets its texture, because the people who built this place didn't go looking far for their materials. They quarried native rock from nearby stone deposits, local hands pulling local stone out of Runnels County earth to raise a Gothic revival building that still stands as a good example of what local craftsmen could do when they set their minds to it. Now, Gothic revival in West Texas is already a sight worth slowing down for.
But this building has a signature. A single square tower rising from a three-part facade, a landmark in Ballinger that you don't miss and don't forget. Some buildings announce themselves.
This one does it quietly, in stone, and has been doing it since 1910.
What the marker says
Early Roman Catholic worship services in Ballinger were held by missionaries in a church building constructed in 1895. In 1910, during the pastorate of the Rev. J. B. Frigon, this building was completed to serve the congregation. Constructed of native rock quarried from nearby stone deposits, the Gothic revival building is a good example of the work of local craftsmen. A Ballinger landmark, it features a single square tower on its three-part facade. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1984