The Nativity of St. Mary Catholic Church in High Hill, was built by German immigrants in 1906. I believe this church has the most elaborate artwork of all the Painted Churches of Texas. These photos do not do justice to the art in this church, and I did not get photos of all its art. The insciption "Sanctum Sanctum Sanctum" says "Holy, Holy, Holy."
"The High Hill area was originally part of the E. Anderson league and was settled in the 1830s. Around the late 1840s German immigrants established two small settlements, Blum Hill and Oldenburg, and High Hill eventually grew out of them. Early settlers in the area were German and Austrian-Moravian and included the Heinrich, Kleinemann, Seydler, Ebeling, Hillje, Siems, Stuelke, and Nordhausen families. Henry Ebeling opened a store in Oldenburg in 1847, and John F. Hillje was operating a cotton gin and gristmill in the community by 1856. In 1860, the community was granted a post office with the name High Hill. High Hill had a local Turnverein. In 1869, the community had six stores, three blacksmith and wheelwright shops, a hotel, and a brewery. According to some sources, residents of High Hill refused to allow the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway to build through their community in 1874, fearing that the railroad would destroy the tranquility and culture of the town, but with the building of the line to nearby Schulenburg, many of High Hill's residents moved there. A Catholic church had been built in High Hill by 1879, and by 1884 the town had two hundred residents, four schools (including a Catholic parochial school), two saloons, two general stores, a church, and a steam gristmill and cotton gin. In 1900, the community reported a population of 134. The post office closed in 1907, and by 1940 High Hill had a population of seventy-five, a church, a school, and three businesses."
(Source)
