Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church

The community began as Fernando, where a post office opened in 1893; by 1896 it had twenty-five residents, two general stores, two saloons and a daily stage to Castroville for fifty cents. In 1898 it was renamed for Jean Batiste LaCoste, a San Antonio merchant born in Gascony in 1823, who had backed Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, serving the imperial cause at Matamoros, and who later built San Antonio's first ice plant. He married Manuela Menchaca, daughter of José Antonio Menchaca. The church itself was known for its Corinthian columns, Gothic arches, large stained-glass windows and fine acoustics.

What the plaque says

Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church This church was established in 1911 after a petition to build a Catholic Church in Lacoste was made the previous year. Prior to this church, area Catholics had to travel to Castroville to attend mass. Emil Zinsmeyer donated the land for the church, school and cemetery. Work was completed on the red brick, gothic-style building in 1911 and named Our Lady of Grace. It has also been called St. Mary's, Mother of Grace, and Mary Mother of Grace. This church is the oldest and largest church in the greater Lacoste area and has served the community for over 100 years. An annual festival, held on the second Sunday in June since 1925, is the largest event in the community. (2014)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Landmark Inn State Historic Site — 4.6 mi
  A store and stage stop at the Medina River ford in Henri Castro's Alsatian town, with a mill race under the ground and rooms you can still rent for the night.
• Mission Concepción — 20 mi
  A stone church dedicated in 1755 that has never fallen into ruin, its convento ceilings still painted, and the ground where the Texas Revolution's fight for San Antonio began.
• San Antonio Missions National Historical Park — 20 mi
  Four working parish churches on the Mission Trail south of downtown, with the visitor center at Mission San Jose, the Queen of the Missions, and the descendants who still worship there.
• King William Historic District — 20 mi
  Mission farmland turned German merchants' quarter on the San Antonio River, renamed in World War I, then saved by a neighbor who restored fourteen houses, starting with his own.

More markers nearby

• City Hotel — 0.3 mi
• Site of Idlewild Community — 1.6 mi
• Henri Castro — 4.7 mi
• Site of the Homestead of Henri Castro — 4.7 mi