Our Beginnings
The Church of the Annunciation is a critical and significant part of the archdiocese and the city of Houston’s prolific history, as we were established just 4 years after the end of the American Civil War. The Church of the Annunciation is Houston’s oldest church in continuous use of any faith as well as the mother church of Houston that has spawned over 50 parishes in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.
In March 1867, the second bishop of Galveston, Claude M. Dubuis, purchased a half block at Texas and Crawford streets for $2,000.
For the church’s foundation, money and building supplies were scarce but in November 1867, French a missionary priest, Fr. Joseph Querat, raised $1,000 and bought the old Harris County Courthouse, with the parishioners dismantled it, cleaned the brick and built the current church's foundation.
Fr. Querat was pastor of the old St. Vincent de Paul established in 1839. He was a canon of the Cathedral in Lyons, France and a missionary to Texas from 1852-1878. St. Vincent de Paul burned down and was never rebuilt.
Bishop Dubuis granted permission to Fr. Querat to institute the Church of the Annunciation and approved Querat as our first pastor. On the feast of St. Mark, April 25, 1869 they conducted a solemn procession from the old St. Vincent de Paul (Franklin St. & Caroline St.) to Annunciation (Texas Ave. and Crawford St.), which culminated in the blessing and laying of the Cornerstone.
With no additional funds available, the foundation remained a church without walls, until people of other denominations began asking the Catholics, why they didn't finish it. When Houstonians discovered money was the problem, they raised the funds required to finish the building, through festivals and Ice Cream socials.
It was a very ecumenical effort and very different from what you might find today
— Msgr. Anton Frank (5th Pastor, 1943-1982) told the Houston Post in 1981
The contents of the cornerstone reveal that ecumenical nature. In addition to Confederate and Union currency there was a French Catholic newspaper from New Orleans, the names of 11 priests and a bishop, and a copy of the Texas Baptist Herald.
The construction of the church was started in 1869 and completed in 1871. Texas architect Nicholas J. Clayton later designed the bell tower and entrance and embellished the overall church using the Gothic forms of European cathedrals; the sacristy and steeple were added between 1881 and 1884.
Standing near the business center of Houston, Annunciation was the home of the city’s early leaders and ministered during times of war and prosperity. We sit across the old Union Train Station, which brought thousands of visitors.
Today we continue to minister to the faithful of Houston and our visitors. We remain the oldest existing church building in the city, as we are located at the original site that our first bishop purchased with the original building our first pastor, Fr. Querat, labored to build and collect money to pay off its debts.
Annunciation was recorded as a Texas Historic Landmark in 1969 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Source: Lisa May, Archivist, Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.
View our INCREDIBLE timeline! Click on the image below to read Annunciation's incredibly rich history.
Watch the stunning aerial drone footage of Annunciation's beautiful spire and cross!
How incredible - steeplejacks used ropes to climb to the top of the cross, 140 feet above the ground! The Houston Post published these amazing photos in 1937.
Click here to view larger image
Thankfully, in later years, scaffolding has been used for a much safer job of maintaining the spire and cross!
