St. Anne's Catholic Church Eastgate

St. Anne's Catholic Church Eastgate. Liberty County Historic Landmark. Around 1900, the farming community known as Eastgate began to develop west of Dayton. Czech families moved to the area to farm and make their homes. The Janacek, Vyoral, Kovalcik, Hajovsky, Buchta, Jarma, Kolarik and Fisher families were the first to arrive, later joined by the Smykal, Beran and Krajca families. They formed the eleven charter members of St. Anne's Mission. The community requested a priest and mass was first offered on June 1, 1915 at the Janacek home. Mass was held several times a year until 1917 when Father Isidor Tresch lead an effort to build a church. St. Anne's was organized October 20, 1918 and Adolph Janacek's widow, Anna, donated two-acres on January 13, 1919 for the church site. The Catholic Church Extension sent $500 in financial aid, a gift of vestments, linens, and accessories. Parishioners furnished the balance along with pews and other furnishings. Joe Krajca, his sons and parishioners built the 58X28 foot church costing $1665., In 1948, the mission family decided to build a larger church. M.F. and Vlasta Janacek donated 2-1/4 acres near the first church, designing and supervising the new construction. The church was completed in 1949 at a cost of $20,000. Bishop Christopher E. Byrne dedicated the 300 seat brick building on October 16, 1949. The old church was converted into the parish hall., St. Anne has been a mission of St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church in Dayton since 1967 and continues to reflect the deep faith of the original Czech families who formed the community of Eastgate.