St. Francis de Paula Catholic Church

The church stands in a town that began as a land grant. About 1800 the Spanish government granted San Diego de Arriba and San Diego de Abajo, eight leagues in all, to Julián Flores and his son Ventura, and the Flores family received its deed in 1812. In 1848 Ventura sold land on San Diego Creek to Pablo Pérez, who built stone houses and brought families, and the place was called Perezville. Sources differ on when it became San Diego, and on whether its first post office opened in 1852 or 1867. The railroad arrived in 1879.

What the plaque says

St. Francis de Paula Catholic Church Established in 1867 by Father Claude Jaillet, St. Francis de Paula Catholic Church was built through the contributions of its members and was the center of religious activity in the area. Father Jaillet served until 1872, and returned again from 1875-1884. This church was constructed in 1908 during the pastorate of Father Pedro Bard. The church was enlarged and remodeled and Parochial Hall was added by 1950. The church celebrated 100 years of service to its members and the surrounding communities in 1967, and continues to serve the area. (1996)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Duval County Courthouse — 0.2 mi
  A red-brick Classical Revival courthouse of 1916 in San Diego, the seat of a county governed for decades by the Parr family machine.
• King Ranch Visitor Center — 27 mi
  The bus-tour gate to a working ranch of about 825,000 acres, founded on Santa Gertrudis Creek in 1853 and worked from the start by the Kineños, families from Cruillas in Tamaulipas.
• Lipantitlán State Historic Site — 29 mi
  Five undeveloped acres on the Nueces named for the Lipan Apaches who camped here, where Mexico built an earth-and-rail fort that Texans took early in the Revolution.
• Lake Corpus Christi State Park — 31 mi
  A lake park in the South Texas brush country above Mathis, on a reservoir of the Nueces, with a Civilian Conservation Corps refectory and more than 200 bird species.

More markers nearby

• El Plan de San Diego — steps away
• Duval County — 0.3 mi
• Jim Wells County — 9.4 mi
• Alice — 10 mi