St. Mary's Cathedral
201--207 10th St., Austin, TXSaint Mary's Cathedral in Austin is the product of cultural and institutional forces very different from those which had produced the Catholic mission churches in Spanish Texas. The Roman Catholic population within the newly-founded centers of Anglo-Americans, Germans, and other groups becoming establish-ed in Texas during the middle decades of the nineteenth century looked to the United States for their institutional leadership and for architectural influences on effecting their churches. Consequently changes in architectural influences accompanied the independence and subsequent statehood of Texas. The erection of Saint Mary's Church in the capital city was an early example of the new sources of inspiration which accompanied this transformation of Texas from that of a remote Spanish domain to a far western state of an expanding Anglo-Saxon republic.
The first diocese in the State of Texas, that of Galveston, was founded in 1847, and the city of Austin was-well within its far-flung boundaries. Austin's first resident priest, the Reverend Michael Sheehan, began erection of his church in 1853 on the northeast corner of East Ninth and Brazos streets approximately a block from the present Saint Mary's church. Father Sheehan's church was called Saint Patrick's reflecting the Irish influence in the parish during the first two decades.
In 1866 the name of the church was changed to Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception, and in 1874 it was placed in the hands of the French Congregation of the Holy Cross operating out of Fort Wayne, Indiana, where they had founded University in 1842. This order had begun Saint Edward's College, Austin, in 1872. In the meantime the parish had outgrown the former Saint Patrick's church, and in 1874 the commission for the present Saint Mary's was awarded to Nicholas J. Clayton (1848-1916).
Clayton had come to Galveston in 1872 as the representative of the W. H. Baldwin firm of Memphis under whom he had studied sculpture, architecture, and structural engineering. He was the first professionally-trained architect to become established in Texas, and at the time of the St. Mary's commission, he had several buildings underway in Galveston, including Saint Patrick's church.
The site of Saint Mary's is the northeast corner of Tenth and Brazos Streets: a topographically conspicuous location. The exact date of the cornerstone is not recorded, however the church was dedicated by the bishop of Galveston in 1884. A 2000 pound bell was installed in the belfry in 1886; stained glass windows made in Munich,Germany were installed on the west side during the 1890s; the present pipe organ (recently reworked) was installed in 1893, and in 1900 the series of Munich made windows was completed on the east side. Extensive interior decoration was carried out in 1900, including fresco, stenciling, and refinishing of woodwork by Julius Schmide, Louis Rucca, and F. P, Vitellaro a group of Chicago artisans.
Saint Mary's became the cathedral church for the Austin diocese, after the diocese was established in 1948
Bibliography
Barkley, Mary Starr. One Hundred Years; the Centennial of Saint Mary's Church, Austin. Austin, Texas. Besty Printing Co.,1953
Barnestone, Howard. The Galveston that Was. New York.
Clayton, Nicholas J. Papers, 1869-1909. Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas, Austin
Williamson, Roxanne Kuter. Victorian Architecture in Austin. Unpublished Thesis, University of Texas. Austin, Texas, 1967.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
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.