St. Elizabeth Catholic Community

St. Elizabeth Catholic Community. . The late 1850s saw the arrival of the first Catholic families to the area known as Port Neches. While no church would be formally founded for many years, the area was frequently visited by traveling missionaries known as "saddlebag priests." They would travel by horseback between towns to celebrate mass in the log cabin homes of the Catholic families. One such example is Fr. Vitalus Quinon (c.1850-1894), a French native who established churches in the nearby towns of Orange and Beaumont, and other Texas cities. His parish extended from the Sabine River on the east to the San Jacinto River on the west., By the turn of the century, the families of Port Neches had to travel several hours to Port Arthur or Beaumont to attend mass. In the late 1910s, the Catholic population of the town had grown to over 400 and a request was sent for a priest to come formally establish a church. Fr. Fred B. Hardy (1886-1957) was transferred from Nacogdoches to Port Neches in 1922. Fr. Hardy named the church St. Elizabeth, after the daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary. The first church was built from donated and salvaged building materials and served as the home of the congregation for many years. It still stands between the convent and the rectory in the 300 block of Ave. B. That same year, St. Catherine of Siena School was founded and held lessons in the church building. By the late 1920s several hundred students were enrolled. In 1939, after 17 years with St. Elizabeth, Fr. Hardy was transferred to St. Charles Borromeo in Nederland. By 1957, the church moved to its current location on Nall Street to accommodate the growing size of the congregation. St. Elizabeth is still serving the community and beloved by its members.