St. Patrick's Catholic Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm just the one passin' it along. Way up in Grayson County, there's a church with a story that stretches back more than a century, and it goes something like this. In 1872, the Roman Catholic bishop of Galveston, a man named Claude Dubuis, founded St.

Patrick's parish. Now, that's a long way from Galveston, but a bishop's reach is a bishop's reach. The parish took root, and when the time came to put up a proper house of worship, they didn't settle for ordinary.

They brought in Nicholas J. Clayton, a noted architect, and he designed something worth building. That first church at this site was completed in 1898, and by all accounts, it was something to see.

Then 1911 arrived, and fire took it. Just like that, gone. But here's where the story turns.

The parish didn't start over from scratch and forget what Clayton had made. They rebuilt, and they carried his original design forward, working much of it right into the new facade. That took some doing.

The rebuilt church was completed in 1914, and what they raised was a Gothic revival building, fine patterned brickwork climbing the walls, lancet arches reaching upward the way Gothic arches do, like they're trying to make a point to the sky. Fire came, and stone and brick and memory answered back. St.

Patrick's is still standing in Grayson County. That's the whole of it.

What the marker says

St. Patrick's parish was founded in 1872 by the Roman Catholic bishop of Galveston, Claude Dubuis. The first church building at this site, designed by noted architect Nicholas J. Clayton, was completed in 1898. Destroyed by fire in 1911, the structure was rebuilt, incorporating much of Clayton's original design into the new facade. Completed in 1914, the Gothic revival building features fine patterned brickwork and lancet arches. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1983