St. Mary's Church of the Assumption (Praha, Texas)

St. Mary's Church of the Assumption is a historic church on FM 1295 in Praha, Texas.

St. Mary's Church of the Assumption
St. Mary's Church in 2008
St. Mary's Church of the Assumption
St. Mary's Church of the Assumption
LocationFM 1295,
Praha, Texas
Coordinates29°40′11″N 97°4′0″W
Arealess than one acre
Built1895 (1895)
ArchitectO. Kramer
Architectural styleGothic Revival
MPSChurches with Decorative Interior Painting TR
NRHP reference No.83003138[1]
Added to NRHPJune 21, 1983

It was built in 1895 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.[2] Gottfried Flury, a Swiss-born artist from Moulton, TX, painted much of the interior.[3] Using a combination of stenciling, infill painting, and freehand techniques, Flury's trompe-l'œil designs mimic stone vaults and Gothic tracery reminiscent of central European models.[4] The ornate polychrome interior of St. Mary's Church of the Assumption is typical of the so-called "Painted Churches of Texas" constructed by immigrants who settled in the region in the nineteenth century.

Plan

The church has a rectangular plan consisting of a five-bay nave with side aisles terminated by a polygonal apse.

  • South façade
  • Interior view looking toward apse
  • Interior
  • Interior painting, detail

See also

Notes
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. "National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form: Churches with Decorative Interior Painting TR" (PDF). National Park Service. 1983.
  3. "The Painted Churches of Texas". www.klru.org. Retrieved 2018-03-24.
  4. Harwood, Buie (1993). Decorating Texas : decorative painting in the Lone Star State from the 1850s to the 1950s. Fort Worth: Texas Christian University Press. p. 29. ISBN 9780875651149. OCLC 26930603.

Further reading
  • Baker, T. Lindsay. Ghost Towns of Texas. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991.
  • Christensen, Carl J., and Pixie Christensen. Lone Star Steeples: Historic Places of Worship in Texas. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2016.
  • Koenig, Jon Todd. Fayette County. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Pub, 2011.

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