Painted and Historic Churches Tours

Take a tour of the painted and historic churches in rural Texas. We visit painted churches dating to the 1840s that dot the rolling hills and meadows of rural Texas. These churches were generally built on high ground.  Combined with their tall steeples, they are often the tallest buildings in town and can be seen for miles. Their stone, brick, and or white-framed construction along with their arched Gothic Revival windows frequently make them the most distinctive buildings in town. Many of them have attached or nearby cemeteries of the leaders of the churches and communities. Itinerant painters, looking for work, came and offered their services to paint the interiors of these structures in the late 1800s. Thus, the impressive painting is inside the houses of worship. Most of the painters are unknown today.

Most of these churches are Catholic and Lutheran that were built by German and Czechs who moved to Texas between 1848 and 1890. Many of these churches are located in towns that are stagnating or dying as young people, since the end of World War II in 1945, have been relocating to urban centers, mostly San Antonio, Austin, and Houston. All of the churches and the 1 synagogue that we visit are historic as all of them were originally built or established no more recently than 1914 with a couple of exceptions on Tour D.

Schulenburg was found in 1873. It is 95.5 miles/153.7 kilometers from Houston or about 1.5 hours. Austrians, Germans, and Czechs settled it. It was named for Louis Schulenburg who donated the land. By 2000, the population had grown to 2,699. Frank's Restaurant is the initial stop on Tours A, B, and C. It is a good location for using a bathroom, buying a souvenir map and guide, kolaches, strudel, and miscellaneous memorabilia.

Painted and Historic Churches Tour A

  1. Schulenburg – Frank’s Restaurant (1929)
  2. Praha – St. Mary's Church (1855, 1892)
  3. Freyburg – Freyburg United Methodist Church (1868, 1879)
  4. High Hill – St. Mary's Catholic Church (1868, 1906)
  5. Schulenburg – Oakridge Smokehouse (1969)
  6. Schulenburg – Potter Pecan (2007) –
  7. Ammansville – KJT Hall
  8. Ammannsville – St. John the Baptist Church (1870, 1919)
  9. Dubina – Saints Cyril and Methodius Church (1877, 1912)
  10. Weimar – St. Michael’s Church (1888, 1914)

Painted and Historic Churches Tour B

  1. Schulenburg – Frank’s Restaurant (1929)
  2. Hallettsville – St. Mary’s Catholic Church (1840, 1896)
  3. Sweet Home – Queen of Peace Catholic Church
  4. Shiner – Saints Cyril and Methodius Catholic Church (1890, 1921)
  5. Shiner – K. Spoetzl Brewery (1909)
  6. Shiner – Werner's Restaurant – all you can eat buffet. (1990)
  7. Moulton – Zion Lutheran Church (1904)
  8. Moulton – St. Joseph's Catholic Church (1888, 1924, 1992/4)
  9. Moulton – Zion Lutheran Church parsonage
  10. Moravia – Ascension of Our Lord Catholic Church (1912/13)
  11. Potter Pecan

Painted and Historic Churches Tour C

  1. Schulenburg – Frank's Restaurant (1929)
  2. Swiss Alp – United Evangelical Lutheran Church and Philadelphia Evangelical Lutheran Church (1867)
  3. Hostyn – Queen of Holy Rosary Church (1831, 1966)
  4. La Grange – La Marina's Restaurant
  5. La Grange – Weikel's Bakery one of the best places in La Grange for kolaches
  6. La Grange – The Texas Czech Heritage and Cultural Center (1995)
  7. Winchester – Winchester United Methodist Church and St. Michael's Lutheran Church (1876)
  8. Serbin – St. Paul’s Lutheran Church (1854, 1871) and the Texas Wendish Heritage Museum
  9. Giddings – First Presbyterian Church (1876)

Painted and Historic Churches Tour D

  1. Chappell Hill – Chappell Hill United Methodist Church (1849, 1901)
  2. Brenham – Blue Bell Creameries (1907)
  3. Brenham – Congregation B’nai Abraham Synagogue (1885, 1893)
  4. Brenham – Must Be Heaven – circa 1950s interior.  (1987)
  5. Brenham – St. Mary Immaculate Conception Catholic Church (1935)
  6. Brenham – Brenham Presbyterian Church (1877, 1913, moved into the building in 1951), Methodists originally built the church
  7. Wesley – Wesley Brethren Church (1886
  8. Round Top
  9. Warrenton – St. Martin’s Church (1960s)
  10. Oldenburg

Painted and Historic Churches Tour E

  1. Columbus – St. John’s Episcopal Church (1848, 1942
  2. Columbus – Columbus Church of Christ (1850s, 1874 built, consecrated as a Church of Christ 1879)
  3. Columbus – First United Methodist Church of Christ (1848, 1897
  4. Columbus – Schobels’ Restaurant – all you-can-eat buffet
  5. Ellinger – St. Mary’s Catholic Church (1861, dedicated in 1879, rebuilt in 1906, restored and rededicated in 2005
  6. Fayetteville – Fayetteville Brethren Church (1870, 1874)
  7. Frelsburg – St. John’s Lutheran Church/Trinity Lutheran Church (18??)
  8. New Ulm – Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church (18??)
  9. Katy - First Baptist Church of Katy