Panna Maria Historic District
TX 123, Panna Maria and, TX<p>"Panna Maria, a rural community southeast of San Antonio, Texas, has the unique distinction of being the oldest Polish colony in the United States. This village, founded in 1854 by a group of Silesian peasants and their parish priest, holds two additional singular distinctions: it is the oldest Polish Catholic parish and possesses the oldest Polish school in America. Of importance to regional history is the fact that Panna Maria served as the mother colony of the numerous Silesian Polish settlements in Texas."</p><p>In the late 18th century Poland was partitioned among its three powerful neighbors--Prussia, Russia, and Austria. Although a truly separate Poland no longer existed until after WWI, the Poles in Upper Silesia, forced into serfdom by the Prussians, maintained their Polish language, Polish traditions, and Catholic religion. Serfdom was ended with a royal edict in 1807, but the Poles continued in a very difficult economic situation. By the 1850's bad harvests, increasing food prices, and particularly the great flood in 1854 contributed to the poverty of the peasants in Upper Silesia. Disease, as well as social discrimination against the Polish by the German magnates, were additional factors in the eventual immigration of Polish peasants to Texas in 1854. This event has national significance, for it served as the drawing point for the first organized immigration of Polish peasants to the United States. These Silesian immigrants were the forerunners of the thousands of Polish peasants who started coming to America only a decade later.</p><p>The instigator of the Polish move was Father Leopold Moczygemba, who in 1852 had come to Texas from Upper Silesia as a young missionary Catholic priest. Father Leopold first served the German community of New Braunfels and was then transferred in early 1854 to Castroville, an Alsatian community west of San Antonio. Observing the prosperity of the new German immigrants, Father Leopold encouraged his friends and family to come to Texas.</p><p>Reverend Moczygemba's letters served as the catalyst for the first immigration of Polish peasants in 1854. The group of Silesians were from the Regency of Opole, a political subdivision in the southeastern tip of Prussia. The region of Silesia was itself the poorest in the Kingdom of Prussia. Following Father Leopold's advice the first group set out for America in September 1854, finally meeting the Polish priest in San Antonio in late December. The site that Moczygemba had chosen for them was about 55 miles southeast of San Antonio, at the confluence of the San Antonio River and the Cibolo Creek. Father Moczygemba had turned for assistance to John Twohig of San Antonio, an Irish immigrant to Texas in 1830 and a veteran of the Texas Revolution, who had become a merchant and banker in San Antonio with land holdings south and southeast of the city. Once the colonists arrived, however, Twohig greatly overcharged them for the land causing a great hardship for the early colonists. Whereas the average price of land in Karnes County at the time was only $1.47, Twohig and his partner charged the Poles between $5.00 and $10.89 an acre.</p><p>The settlement was established on a plateau about a mile above the confluence of the two streams and the colonists named their site Panna Maria, meaning "Holy Mary." Between 1854 and 1856, three waves of Polish immigrants from Upper Silesia traveled to Texas. Although a few individual Poles continued to come from Upper Silesia after 1856, that date generally marks the close of Silesian Polish immigration to Texas. The first years of settlement were filled with hardships and suffering. There had been no preparation for their arrival and shelters were first built of dugouts or pole houses with thatched roofs. These served as poor shelters against the first harsh winter and illness and disease were present. The language barrier and distance from established communities isolated the Poles on the frontier. In addition, a severe drought in 1856-57 further increased the poverty and suffering of the residents. Panna Maria soon had a reputation as a settlement of suffering and disease and many new Polish settlers moved into other parts of the county founding new Polish communities.</p><p>The unifying element in the society of Panna Maria was the Catholic religion. Soon after the founding of Panna Maria, work was begun on the first church and it was completed in the fall of 1856. John Gawlik, a stonemason who arrived with the second wave of Polish immigrants in 1855, was responsible for completing the stonework, while contracts were later awarded to two carpenters to complete the work. With the shell completed in 1856, St. Mary's Church became the oldest Polish parish in America. At the entrance to the church, the people of Panna Maria erected a large crucifix, displaying a Christ figure that one of the colonists, John Rzeppa, had brought with him from Upper Silesia. The crucifix remains standing in front of the present church. By the 1870's the walls of the first church had begun to crack and in 1877 the building was severely damaged by lightning. Although Panna Maria's original population had declined, the people of the community were able to raise enough funds to build a new church. John Gawlik and Joseph Kyrish served as the contractors on the new stone church which was begun in 1877. In 1937 the building was enlarged to its present size.</p><p>The suffering and hardships of the first years had a deteriorating effect on the Poles' relationship with Father Moczygemba. As the living conditions grew worse, the colonists began to turn against the priest. In October 1856 Father Moczygemba left Panna Maria for good and served in various missionary capacities throughout the United States until his death. A Polish priest immediately replaced him in November 1856 and except for two brief periods in the 19th century, there has always been a Polish pastor in residence in Panna Maria. One of the most instrumental people in molding the Polish pride and holding the community together during a difficult time was Father Bakanowski, who came to Panna Maria in 1866. The Reconstruction period was a time of civil disorder, particularly in sparsely populated counties, such as Karnes County. Some of the American settlers, resentful of the outcome of the Civil War, took out their vengeance by preying on the Poles. The situation finally got so bad that Father Bakanowski requested protection from federal troops in 1869. The presence of troops finally rid the county of outlaws and ended the harassment of the Poles. However, during these years, the Polish people developed strong feelings of national unity, and this pride permeates the community today.</p><p>One of the chief concerns of the Polish colony was for education, particularly religious education. Catechism classes were held for the children from the beginning in various locations. In 1868 a two-story stone school/rectory combination was constructed near St. Mary's Church and became the first Polish school in America. Two rooms on the first floor were used for classroom space, while the upper floor was used as the priest's quarters. The parents of Panna Maria students insisted that their children be taught in Polish. Therefore, when three Sisters of the Order of Divine Providence arrived in 1872 from Castroville, their first concern was to learn Polish. After their arrival the upper floor was used for boarding the teachers and a new rectory was built. This order of nuns was later replaced by the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception---Panna Maria girls who were devoted to teaching in Polish. Although the Order soon disappeared, parochial education became a feature of every Polish parish in Texas, a situation that helped perpetuate the language and tradition of these people.</p><p>The 1870's marked a watershed in the history of Panna Maria, for their economic situation began to improve. Corn had been the major crop in the first years. After Emancipation a colony of Blacks settled about 15 miles northeast of Panna Maria and with their help the Poles began growing cotton. The beginning of "large scale" cotton production was the most important factor in raising the economic level of the Poles.</p><p>Panna Maria is today a small farming community with about 65 families living in the vicinity. All of these families are descendents of the original settlers and still maintain the long narrow farm plots purchased in the mid-19th century. Panna Maria is important to Polish-Americans not only as the first Polish community, but also as the mother colony for at least 16 other Silesian Polish settlements in Texas. Some of the communities later settled by the Silesians are St. Hedwig, Meyersville, Yorktown, Cestochowa, Kosciusko, Falls City and White Deer. Bandera and San Antonio both have large Polish populations.</p><p>Panna Maria is of importance to scholars in both Europe and America not only because of its "firsts," but also because its people have preserved a folk culture which no longer remains alive in Europe. The Upper Silesian immigrants to Texas left their homeland before the start of forced Germanization by the Prussians. Today their descendents speak an archaic dialect of Polish which is no longer used in their homeland and they observe a large number of archaic customs. They constitute a case study in the level of Polish nationality among the peasantry of their region in the years before the denationalization by the Prussians.</p>
Bibliography
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.