Our Lady of Consolation -- Vattman TX
N 27° 20.052 W 097° 44.490
14R E 624496 N 3024079
A lovely country Catholic Church serving the tiny community of Riviera, located in the even smaller rural community of Vattman TX
Waymark Code: WMPD92
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 08/12/2015
Views: 1
The day Blasterz visited, a neighbor soon dropped by to see what we were up to. She needed to lock up the church and go fix dinner for her husband, so we were only able to stay for a few minutes.
This tiny church with its amazing hand-made rock garden shapes of a heart and an anchor next to the Our Lady of Fatima grotto was was quite the unexpected sight in the peaceful farming community of Vattman TX.
From the church website: (
visit link)
Our Lady of Consolation
Our History
In 1907, Theodore Koch, a land developer, purchased 20,000 acres of land from the King Ranch. He proposed to develop this land into three areas: Riviera, Riviera Beach and Vattmannville (later shortened to Vattmann). Mr. Koch sought the help of Father Edward J. Vattmann, the then secretary of the Catholic Colonization Society of America, to help him populate the area that came to be known as Vattmannville, later shortened to Vattmann. Soon a Church was built and dedicated as Our Lady of Consolation
The original Our Lady of Consolation Church was destroyed in the Hurricane of 1916, except for its bell. This bell is now located in the present Church. The existing Church was built in 1919 and dedicated in 1920. The inside bricks of the Church were made by its parishioners, using sand, mud and clay from the Baffin Bay area. The outside bricks were brought in from a brick factory in D’Hannis, Texas. The beautiful Crucifixion on the High Altar was imported from Germany. The stained glass windows in the upper balcony and front of the Church were originally located on either side of the Main Altar. The stained glass windows on each wall of the Church, also from Germany, were added in the 1930’s.
In 1927, an Austrian painting of Our Lady of Perpetual Help was located in the niche by the Church vestibule. The statue of St. Anthony is located in the niche in the front of the Church, just beneath the bell tower. A Grotto of Our Lady of Fatima is situated on the Church grounds, facing State Farm Road 628."