DUANE
Duane's take
Well, here's my telling of what the official Texas Historical Commission marker has to say — and this one's got more chapters in it than you might expect from a single church steeple rising over Marfa. It starts, as so many West Texas stories do, with people coming from somewhere else and deciding they weren't leaving. John and Mary Humphris were English natives, and they made their way to Texas in the early 1870s.
By 1883 they'd landed in Marfa, and John — along with his brother-in-law James Walker and a partner named Charles Murphy — founded Humphris and Company. Now, that outfit didn't stay small. It grew into the largest mercantile operation between El Paso and San Antonio.
Think about the distance that represents out here, and you start to understand what kind of enterprise these folks were running. But if John was building a commercial empire, Mary was building something else entirely. She was a devout Episcopalian, and she didn't wait for a proper church to come to her — she organized the Union Protestant Sunday School and held it right there in the Humphris home, teaching from the Bible and the Anglican Book of Common Prayer.
And then John, bless the man, built an adobe church near their home to give all those denominations a proper roof over their heads. That building on West Dallas Street eventually became the San Pablo Mexican Methodist mission, so even that humble structure had a long life of its own. Now, in 1897, Bishop John Mills Kendrick gave the Marfa Episcopalians permission to build a church of their own — a separate home, to be called St.
Paul's. Elizabeth Livesay donated the lots on Highland Avenue, and John and Mary Humphris paid for the building themselves. The new church was established as a mission of the Cathedral Church of St.
John's in Albuquerque. A real foundation, in every sense of the word. But this story has a turn in it.
In November of 1928, the Chamber of Commerce hotel committee purchased the St. Paul's lot — and the Paisano Hotel was built right on that very site. The congregation had to move, and nothing in Marfa sits still for long.
In March of 1929, Bishop Frederick B. Howden stepped in and bought lots facing the Courthouse square from W.A. and Maudie Hord. A man named R.
H. Mull drew up the initial plans. Those plans were then finalized by the El Paso architectural firm of Braunton and McGhee, who honored what Mull had drawn but went a little bigger — a larger parish hall, and an apartment for a resident priest.
What they built was a Gothic Revival style church, completed in 1930. The walls are hollow clay tile, faced on the outside with river rock masonry. You'll notice the lancet windows, the entry framed in white stone, and that tall steeple reaching up like it's got somewhere important to be.
St. Paul's is the oldest Protestant church in the Big Bend region. It has outlasted the mercantile that helped build it, outlasted the lot it first stood on, and outlasted every reason it might have had to disappear into the caliche dust.
The marker calls it a spiritual beacon and a center for community activities, and out here in Presidio County, where the distances between things are vast and the sky doesn't give comfort for free — that's not a small thing to be.
What the marker says
English natives John and Mary (Walker) Humphris came to Texas in the early 1870s and arrived in Marfa in 1883. John, his brother-in-law, James Walker, and partner Charles Murphy founded Humphris and Co., which became the largest mercantile between El Paso and San Antonio. Mary, a devout Episcopalian, organized the Union Protestant Sunday School, which met in the Humphris home with Mary teaching from the Bible and the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. John built an adobe church near their home to serve as a Union Protestant Church serving many denominations. The building on West Dallas Street became the San Pablo Mexican Methodist mission In 1897, Bishop John Mills Kendrick gave permission to Marfa Episcopalians to build a separate church named St Paul's. Elizabeth Livesay donated lots on Highland Avenue and John and Mary Humphris paid for the building. The church was established as a mission of the Cathedral Church of St. John's in Albuquerque. In November 1928, the Chamber of Commerce hotel committee purchased the St. Paul's lot, and the Paisano Hotel was built on that site. In March 1929, Bishop Frederick B. Howden bought lots facing the Courthouse square from W.A. and Maudie Hord for a new church. Architect and engineer R. H. Mull drew initial plans, which were finlized by the El Paso architectural firm of Braunton and McGhee, who followed Mull's plans but designed a larger parish hall and an apartment for a resident priest. The Gothic Revival style church, completed in 1930, is built with hollow clay tile walls and river rock masonry exterior facing. Prominent features include lancet windows, and entry faced with a white stone surround, and a tall steeple. The oldest Protestant church in the the Big Bend region, St. Paul's continues to serve as a spiritual beacon and a center for community activities. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2015