{"nrhp_refnum":"76002043","name":"Panna Maria Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"TX 123","address_restricted":false,"city":"Panna Maria and","county":"Karnes County","state":"TX","lat":28.94615827000007,"lon":-97.91730021496238,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-05-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Entertainment/Recreation","Exploration/Settlement","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["national","state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A rural historic district at Panna Maria in Karnes County, Texas, founded in 1854 by Silesian Polish immigrants. It includes the village center and historic farm dwellings along FM 81, with buildings mostly from the 19th century.","why_significant":"Panna Maria is described as the oldest Polish colony in the United States, with the oldest Polish Catholic parish and the oldest Polish school in America. It also served as the mother colony of the Silesian Polish settlements in Texas. The 1854 immigration is called the first organized Polish peasant immigration to the United States.","narrative":"Panna Maria is a small farming community in the rolling hills of Karnes County, Texas, about 55 miles southeast of San Antonio. Polish immigrants from Upper Silesia founded it in 1854 on a plateau above the San Antonio River and Cibolo Creek. The district covers the village center and farm dwellings west along FM 81. Its focal point is St. Mary's Church, a Gothic Revival stuccoed stone building of 1877 with a 100-foot tower. Nearby are the 1868 St. Joseph's School, a rectory, early stores and steep-roofed stone cottages modeled on Silesian peasant houses. Long, narrow farm strips running toward the water still show the central European land pattern. The settlement is considered the oldest Polish colony in the United States, and it has the oldest Polish Catholic parish and the oldest Polish school in the country. It also served as the mother colony for other Silesian Polish settlements in Texas. Many buildings remain in use, while a few stand as ruins.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899 (specific date 1854)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Polish colonial stone cottages; Gothic Revival church (St. Mary's, 1877)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Mixed use: many 19th-century buildings are still in use as homes, a church, rectory, museum, guest houses or barns, a few are ruins, and some houses are unoccupied.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:18.852146-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/34/9727/40972734/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/76002043.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76002043/cadc929e8c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76002043/cadc929e8c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Renelibrary","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Panna_Maria,_Texas.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Renelibrary</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Panna_Maria,_Texas.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40972734","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q109999728"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/karnes-county/panna-maria-historic-district-76002043/"}