Hallettsville, Lavaca County
Considered the oldest rural Catholic parish in Texas, St. Mary's was settled before the Texas War for Independence by such pioneers as James Brown, who was killed in the siege of the Alamo. First church edifice for St. Mary's was built in 1840 under influence of missionary Fathers George Haydon and Edward A. Clarke, who also opened school for the settlement. This was one of ten churches comprising Texas' first diocese (Galveston) at its formation in 1847. Many priests' and sisters' vocations have come from this historic parish. (1971)