Lampasas, Lampasas County
Catholics in this area organized services in 1880 at a chapel on William Mark Wittenburg's ranch (about 23 mi. NW). In 1885 they built a church on West Fifth Street in Lampasas, dedicated to Saint Mary. Mass was celebrated once a month for a parish covering 3,200 square miles. After 1900 Father Joseph le Gardeur, chaplain at the nearby convent and school, offered weekly Mass. In 1907 he was made resident pastor of this congregation. Bishop Christopher E. Byrne (1867-1950) served briefly as acting pastor in 1921. A stone sanctuary built in 1940 on this site burned in 1970, replaced by a new building in 1972. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986