St Nicholas Catholic Church is located at 2508 Clay Street in Houston's Third Ward. It was created to serve African Americans who had immigrated to Houston from Louisiana to work at the port, most of whom were of the Catholic faith.
A state historic marker in front of the church reads as follows:
"ST NICHOLAS CATHOLIC CHURCH
Founded in 1887 as Houston's first Catholic church for blacks, St. Nicholas parish was located at the corner of Chenevert and Lamar streets. This building, designed by Leo Diehlmann, was completed in 1924. Prominent features include twin projecting towers-- one taller with an open belfry and one lower capped tower, corbelled brick detailing, and curvilinear parapets. St. Nicholas parish remains an important part of Houston's Third Ward.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1987"
There is no information about the history of St Nicholas Church oj their website, so we had to scrounge around a bit.
From the Our Mother of Mercy website, we found some early history of Creole African American Catholics in Houston: (
visit link)
"Our Community’s History
The history of Our Mother of Mercy of the Original Mission Church Diocese of Galveston-Houston began with the arrival of Creoles of French, Spanish and African descent. They were hardworking, resourceful and devoutly Catholic. After the Great Mississippi flood in 1927, many Creoles were left homeless and devastated in Louisiana and relocated in Houston, Texas. They settled in an area bounded by Collingsworth, Russell, Liberty Road and Jensen Drive. The Creole people spoke Creole French and celebrated their Louisiana food, music and culture together in this community. It became known as “French Town”, in the heart of Historic Fifth Ward. The Creoles were skilled or semi-skilled laborers including carpenters, plumbers, bricklayers and mechanics, who found employment at the Englewood Yard with Southern Pacific Railroad or the Houston Ship Channel.
The nearest Black Catholic Church, St. Nicholas (the oldest Black Church in Houston) was located in the Third Ward. The three-mile journey to attend mass at St. Nicholas by streetcar or foot, on narrow, unpaved dirt roads, had become a burden. One of the nearest churches within walking distance was a Hispanic Church, Our Lady of Guadalupe on Navigation, where the Creole people were only allowed to sit on the back row and receive communion and attend confession last.
The families of “French Town” began to hold meetings at each others homes to discuss building their own church. The Creoles decided to have fundraisers at their homes, such as house Zydeco dances, selling gumbo, boudain and pralines to raise money to build a church. Additional financing was made available by the Josephite Priests. A donor gave the land on Sumpter Street near the railroad tracks and the Creoles of “French Town” donated their time and talent to build. On Sunday, April 28, 1928, ground was broken for the Little Mission Church, which is now Our Mother of Mercy. The Church was completed in a little over a year and the first mass was celebrated on June 9, 1929 by his Excellency Bishop C.E. Byrne, D.D. of the Galveston Diocese. . . ."