Anyone who has seen the PBS documentary "The Painted Churches of Texas: Echoes of the Homeland" from 2001 on KLRU will want to visit this photo gallery about the Painted Churches around Schulenburg. These were Catholic churches built by Czech and German immigrants, who arrived there in the mid to late nineteenth century with the promise of land and religious freedom, and their descendants, building most of these churches in the early twentieth century. The churches were extensively decorated, as you will see in over two hundred photos in this website. The best photo among them must be this stained glass window. You may download any of these photos to your computer for personal use. Enjoy!
I would like to thank Mrs. Cindy Neal of the Czech Heritage Society of Texas in La Grange for allowing me to share details about several of the Painted Churches of Texas and the people who built them.
Sts. Cyril and Methodius Church in Shiner, Texas.
St. Mary's Church of the Assumption in Praha.
Nativity of St. Mary in High Hill.
St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Ammansville.
Sts. Cyril and Methodius Church in Dubina.
St. Paul Lutheran Church in Serbin.
Ascension of Our Lord Catholic Church in Moravia.
St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Fayetteville, (paintings only).
A few links:
The Texas Wendish Heritage Museum: next to the Painted Church in Serbin, we visited their museum about the Wends, who began arriving in Texas in 1849.
The Czech Heritage Museum & Genealogy Center in Temple: having visited the Painted Churches, going to the Czech Museum in Temple became imperative. It has an extensive collection of artifacts pertaining to the daily lives of Czech immigrants in the Temple area. This is a must-visit destination!
Belton County Museum: only nine miles from the Czech Museum in Temple, we found the Belton County Museum in Belton, also on Interstate 35. The Belton Museum is not about Painted Churches, nor about Czechs, but I include a link here because it is an equally worthwhile destination, having several exhibits with hundreds of artifacts and detailed history about Bell County and the immigrants who settled and lived there.
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