St. Mary's Catholic Church

Duane's take

The way the official marker tells it, here's the story of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Sherman, Texas. Pull over if you can, because this one's worth a good look.

The first recorded mass in Sherman took place in 1872. Now, that's not a church yet, not a congregation, not a building. Just a mass.

A beginning. Three years later, Bishop Claude Dubuis of the diocese of Galveston decided Sherman needed more than a beginning, and he created a parish here. He sent the Rev.

Louis Granger to serve as first pastor, and the people of Sherman had themselves a church, even if the building they worshipped in was nothing fancier than a wooden chapel. That chapel held them for a good long while. Years passed, the congregation grew, and plans took shape for something more permanent.

Something worthy of the faithful who had been gathering in that humble wooden structure. In 1906, those plans became stone and mortar and stained light. The church building was completed, and what a building it turned out to be.

St. Mary's is considered an excellent example of the work of Nicholas Clayton, a noted Galveston architect who wove Gothic and Romanesque elements together in his design. Gothic reaches, Romanesque weight.

It is the kind of building that makes you stop mid-stride on the sidewalk and just look up. Contractor William Cornish and Sons built it, and they built it to last. Today St.

Mary's stands as a significant part of Sherman's architectural heritage, carrying inside its walls the thread of a story that stretches all the way back to that first quiet mass in 1872. Some things start small and end magnificent. This is one of them.

What the marker says

St. Mary's Catholic Church The first recorded mass in Sherman took place in 1872, and three years later Bishop Claude Dubuis of the diocese of Galveston created a parish here and sent the Rev. Louis Granger to serve as first pastor. A wooden chapel housed worship services until this church building was completed in 1906. St. Mary's is an excellent example of the work of noted Galveston architect Nicholas Clayton, who included Gothic and Romanesque elements in his design. Built by contractor William Cornish & Sons, the church is a significant part of Sherman's architectural heritage. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2001