St. Jude Catholic Church

St. Jude Catholic Church. . In the late nineteenth century, Father Thomas Hagerty, Pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Waxahachie, traveled by train once each month to celebrate Mass with the six Catholic families in this area. In 1898, a small frame church was erected on land donated by local merchant J.W. Wright., By 1928, the parish had grown to twenty-eight families. They began to meet in a red brick church erected on this site and dedicated as St. James Catholic Church in November of that year by Bishop Joseph Lynch., The pastoral needs of the parish were met by priests from Waxahachie through the 1930s. In the 1940s and early 1950s the parish fell under the jurisdiction of St. Patrick Catholic Church in Fort Worth. The women of the church formally established the St. James Altar Society. By 1954 a weekly Mass was held in St. James, with St. Joseph priests again administering the rites., An influx of Czech and German families in the late 1950s contributed significantly to the growth of the parish in the mid to late 20th century. Land for a new structure was donated in 1969; the first Mass was held in St. Jude, the new church building which seated three hundred people, in 1971. Growth in the 1970s was a result of a rise in the area's population and an increase in the number of Mexican American parishioners. The parish boasted 350 registered families in the 1980s; by 1998 that number had grown to 700 families who continue to uphold the traditions of the church's founders. . This historical marker was erected in 1998 by Texas Historical Commission. It is in Mansfield in Tarrant County Texas