St. Anthony's Catholic Church - Wylie, TX
Posted by: 
WalksfarTX
N 33° 01.102 W 096° 32.295
14S E 729947 N 3656015
Current brick church dedicated 12/11/1994 is the third church in the history of this parish. White church nearby was erect in 1900.
Waymark Code: WM13121
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 08/23/2020
Views: 2
Church Website"When the Diocese of Galveston was established in 1847, it comprised the State of Texas east of the Colorado River. It was from Galveston that Richard Hennessy, a young missionary who was later ordained to the priesthood, came to Saint Paul (about 4 miles from Wylie) to minister to the early families of Irish immigrants: Gallagher, Miller, Neilon, Boylan, Corbitt, Cotter, Dempsey, Harnett, Howrey, Marchant, Marriott, Peace, Scanlan, Spurgin and White as early as 1856. it was in that year that Saint Paul Catholic Church was established.. A small religious group gathered in the home of James Gallagher where Father Joseph Martiniere came in 1868 and celebrated the first Mass. He was the first pastor of Saint Paul Catholic Church but also rode horseback into Dallas to say Mass at the homes of Catholic families. The first Catholic Church was built on land deeded by James Neilon in 1869 to the Bishop of Galveston, as the Dallas Diocese was not yet established. This frame church was destroyed by a cyclone in the year 1871 and rebuilt with lumber coming from Jefferson, Texas. In 1869, Andrew and Lucinda Bums donated land for a Catholic school. James Gallagher and Emily Spurgin Gallagher donated land for Saint Paul Catholic Cemetery.
At the turn of the century, the Wylie area became the dominant place of residency for many of the Catholics. Saint Anthony Catholic Church was established in 1890 or 1900. The first church was built in 1890, but destroyed by fire in 1900 and rebuilt into the present wooden church. In 1916, Bishop Lynch of Dallas gave permission to remove the Saint Paul Church and school. The vestments, the church bell (dated 1876, presently is in the bell tower of the white church) were given to Saint Anthony Church.
Over the ensuing years, Saint Anthony fluctuated between being a parish and a mission (of Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Garland, Texas and Saint Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church in Plano, Texas).
Father Pondant remodeled the old white church, purchased additional land and oversaw the construction of the present church."