First Mass

1902

Documentation

• St Patrick's Catholic Church

Notes

First Mass in Angelina County. While Spanish colonial history records Franciscan friars interacting with a Native American woman named "Angelina" nearby in 1717, a formalized parish presence didn't exist for almost two centuries. In 1902, traveling priests from Nacogdoches officially began gathering the scattered Catholic families of Lufkin together to celebrate Mass. These early continuous efforts directly inspired the founding of St. Patrick’s, making it the oldest established parish in the county.