A History of St Joseph Church, Mason, Texas
Researched and compiled by Mrs. Hilton (Della) Moneyhon for the Texas Historical Society to obtain a medallion for the church building. 
(Written in 1983.)

St. Joseph Catholic Church is located in the western edge of the town of Mason, the county seat, of Mason County, Texas.  The congregation was organized in February of 1873.  This meeting was the culmination for years of holding Mass in the John Keller home in the southern part of the county and the Christy Crosby home north of Mason.  The need arose for a central place of worship for the growing Catholic population.

It was in Frebrary of 1881 that David Doole and Lucy, his wife, gave the lot that the Church had been built on to Anthony Dominic Peliceer, Bishop of San Antonio.  Father M.J. Pairier was pastor at the time.  In April of 1881 Thomas Buckley sold the adjacent lot to J.C. Nerez, Catholic Bishop of San Antonio.  It was on this lot that Father Mahon built a two room rectory that was completed in August of 1886.

The Church was completed in September of 1876.  Mrs. Lucia Holmes relates in her diary that she attended the cornerstone laying ceremony and that it was quite lengthy.  J. Marvin Hunter relates in his story of Mason “the building was completed in 1876.  Father Pairier was their pastor, and it was from the tower of the Catholic Church that the bells first rang in Mason County to invite the faithful to worship.”

The original church was a conventional rectangular building of those days twenty-two by fifty feet.  Fifteen feet of the longer length was the sanctuary.  The walls were constructed of red sanstone rock quarried about one and one-fourth miles south of the construction.  The other materials were bought through the William Koock Store about a mile west.  These materials were hauled by wagon as they were needed.  The Reugners, stonemasons in Mason, did the rock work and members of the parish helped with the carpentry.  The walls were eighteen inches thick with four windows to the north and four to the south.  A circular window to the east that opened and a triangular shaped window were over the door.  The ceiling was beaded and followed the sloped roof contour.  On the exterior, green shutters covered the windows.

It was during a major renovation in 1963 that it was discovered the church originally had a dirt floor with the sanctuary being eighteen inches higher than the floor and was approximately seven by fifteen feet in size.  A small lumber room was added to the west of the church several years later and served the priest as bedroom and later as the sacristy until the major renovation.  

In 1916, artist Manuel Lopez, painted the interior of the church a light blue.  The wall behind the altar was painted as if the skies were opening and a dove hovered over the altar.  The ceiling had clouds, stars and angels floating over the entire area.  It was indeed a labor of love.

In 1923 electric lights were installed in the church.  Father J.F. Dwan did the work himself.  Five Years later, 1938, the outside walls of the sacristy were rock veneered and the rocks on the church were pointed off by Mr. Louis Wartenbach a member of the church.  It was also in this same year that the church inside walls were re-plastered, and new light fixtures were added.  The original pine flooring from 1909 was replaced.  This date was discovered on the underside of one of the floor boards, “Pine floor added 1909 by Oscar Reichenau”.

In 1947 stain glass panes replaced the old glass of the original windows and gas heat was added to the church.  In 1953 a major renovation and addition was drawn up, but it was not until 1963 that the actual work was begun for the lack of funds.  The work was under the capable hands of Father William Luyten who worked as hard as anyone to complete the church.  The architect for the plan was Julian White of San Antonio; Norbert Ortiz of Brady was contractor.

It was at this time that the west wall of the building was removed by the parishioners.  It was a far easier job to remove them than it had been to pull them up ninety years prior to that.  Some of the stone were estimated to weigh over three hundred pounds.  The portion that was added had as much floor space as did the original building.  The church became a modified cross in shape.  The walls of the new portion were cement block, rock veneered to the outside with the rocks removed from the  back.  This helped to blend the new with the old.  The floor was terrazzo with the sanctuary raised six inches and the altar raised in three eight inch levels.  Father Luyten, a master carpenter built the altars, pulpits, altar rails, and predieus.  The enlarged portion of the church holds a new sanctuary, sacristy, a Guadalupe Chapel, rest room and storage space.  The angels painted by señor Lopez were covered over with acoustical tiles.

After Vatican II the altar rails were removed and the altars moved from the wall.  This work was done by Peter Gosseens, brother of Father Anthony Gosseens who was resident priest at the time.  In 1979, when Father James Olnhausen was resident priest, the sanctuary was redone with red cedar placed on the wall behind the altar.  The area on which the crucifix hangs is of various sized and etched pine blocks, stained to blend with the red cedar.  The altar bases were built from the limestone rock found in Mason County by Hector Berreles Sr., a member of the church.  The architect was Don N. White and Associates of San Antonio, Texas.  Stein Lumber Co. of Fredericksburg, Texas was the contractor for the carpentry work. 

The building has been used for no other purpose other than the offering of the Sacrifice of the Mass for these one hundred and ten years.  It is in excellent condition and is the responsibility of the people of the church, their pastor, and bishop.  At the present time the stain glass windows are being releaded and lights added to the exterior of the property for safety.