{"nrhp_refnum":"83003074","name":"Church of the Guardian Angel","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"5614 Demel St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wallis","county":"Austin County","state":"TX","lat":29.625823753000077,"lon":-96.05718656299996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-06-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art","Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A wood-frame Gothic Revival Catholic church at 5614 Demel Street in Wallis, Austin County, Texas, built in 1913 to designs by architect Leo Dielman, with Mr. Bunch as builder.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church is a fine example of wood-frame Gothic Revival architecture, with more elaborate Gothic detailing than typical frame churches in comparable communities. Although the painting scheme has been altered, enough historic decorative painting survives to add importance to the building.","narrative":"Guardian Angel Catholic Church in Wallis, Texas, is a wood-frame Gothic Revival building completed and dedicated in 1913. Architect Leo Dielman designed it, and Mr. Bunch built it. It has a basilica plan, a central bell tower with pinnacles and an octagonal metal-shingled spire, a polygonal apse, and decorative buttresses. Paired lancet windows with hood molds line the side walls. Inside, fluted wooden columns separate the nave from the aisles, and ceiling panels carry painted stars and angels holding banners lettered in Czech. The congregation grew from Czech immigrants who settled the area around 1890. A first church was destroyed by a cyclone in 1900, and a replacement built four years later was outgrown, leading to the present building. Two German painters redecorated the interior in the early 1960s, but much of the earlier painting remains. Its detailed Gothic design and decorative interior led to its listing.","period_of_significance":"1913","architect_builder":"Architect Leo Dielman; builder Mr. Bunch","architectural_style":"Gothic Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Still used as a parish church; the interior painting was redone in the early 1960s and the building was later air-conditioned.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.166124-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/77/9679/40967977/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/83003074.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83003074/202ba91732-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83003074/202ba91732-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Church_of_the_guardian_angel_2008.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Larry D. Moore</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Church_of_the_guardian_angel_2008.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40967977","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Guardian_Angel","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5117871"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/austin-county/church-of-the-guardian-angel-83003074/"}