{"nrhp_refnum":"83003150","name":"Church of the Immaculate Conception of Blessed Virgin Mary","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"FM 2672","address_restricted":false,"city":"St. Mary's","county":"Lavaca County","state":"TX","lat":29.448023912000053,"lon":-96.99715543799994,"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 on FM Road 2672 in St. Mary's, Lavaca County, Texas, built in 1896. Its apse ceiling was painted around 1945.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church is a 19th-century survival of Gothic Revival style that substantially retains its original 1896 appearance. Its freehand decorative ceiling painting from the mid-1940s is a late example of that craft. The parish is also considered the oldest rural Catholic parish in Texas.","narrative":"Built in 1896 at a cost of $4,000, this wood-frame church on FM Road 2672 serves the community of St. Mary's in Lavaca County. It follows the Gothic Revival style, with a rectangular plan, a polygonal apse, a corner sacristy and a central bell tower topped by an octagonal spire and Latin cross. Pointed arches with hood molds frame the windows and doors, and the interior has a nave with wooden columns, beaded board walls and barrel vaults. Around 1945 painter Arthur Fatjo decorated the apse ceiling by freehand technique with a cloud bank, cherub heads and a dove symbolizing the Immaculate Conception. The parish is considered the oldest rural Catholic parish in Texas, with roots in a settlement visited by Reverend John Mary Odin in 1840, and its land was sold to Bishop Odin in 1841. The church was listed for its well-preserved 19th-century Gothic Revival character and its decorative painting.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Architect and builder unknown; interior craftsman Arthur Fatjo","architectural_style":"Gothic Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":null,"vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.704094-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/46/9698/40969846/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/83003150.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83003150/619da4c086-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83003150/619da4c086-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"25or6to4","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Church_of_the_Immaculate_Conception_of_Blessed_Virgin_mary.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">25or6to4</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:Church_of_the_Immaculate_Conception_of_Blessed_Virgin_mary.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40969846","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Immaculate_Conception_of_Blessed_Virgin_Mary","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5117962"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/lavaca-county/church-of-the-immaculate-conception-of-blessed-virgin-mary-83003150/"}