3 March Painted Churches tour

By Candy & Charlie Brown

   John and Judy Curtis, Duke and Chela Thompson, Kenny Jordan, and Candy and I eagerly followed Brad Severe Ch U CD as we departed Wal – Mart a little after 10 AM this morning.   Eight brave chapter members on five bikes ready to conquer the biting gusty winds and slightly chilly temperature to ride the 110 miles to Schulenberg TX to appreciate the craftsmanship of years past. 

The Painted churches of Fayette County have appeared in magazines, on television programs, and in newspaper features around the state and beyond.  Only a short distance down the road however hunger overtook the quest for cultural illumination and we stopped at the Luling City Market for lunch.  As usual our eyes and the wonderful smoky aroma left us with more Bar B Que than we could eat and we carried the remains of the feast back to the bikes to be shared later.  Luling City Market is one of our favorite gastronomical delights in spite of the lack of utensils.  Jill promised to bring forks for everyone but was warm and toasty at home while the rest of us suffered through the meal by using our fingers and plastic spoons to savor the great smoky flavor of ribs brisket and sausage. 

 After lunch we continued east on US 90 to the first destination.  St Mary’s church in the Czech ghost town of Praha.  Praha is the Czech spelling of Prague. Prior to the coming of the Czechs, Praha was called Mulberry by the Anglo settlers. It's reputation for being a refuge for outlaws gave it the unoffical name of Hotentot..  St Mary’s Steeple is clearly visible from US 90 and located between Flatonia and Schulenberg.  From Praha we continued east on US 90 and turned north on 2672 to St Mary’s Catholic Church of High Hill.   High Hill was once a community with it's future assured. It was the only town in southern Fayette County for years and was a stop on a transcontinental stage route.

St Mary's Catholic Church in Praha

The railroad had plans for High Hill - wanting to include it along its route between Houston and San Antonio. But the townspeople declined the railroad's offer and the town just declined. The rails went in south of town and Schulenburg was founded as a result.

St Marys Catholic Church in High Hill. 

The painted woodwork.

From High Hill it got interesting as we traveled east along High Hill Road toward Dubina and Saints Cyril and Methodius church in Dubina High Hill Road is a twisty tree lined and covered road with a 150 year old bridge. When we got to Dubina this sign greeted us along with this beautiful church. 

We found this sign after we had crossed the bridge.  (we didn’t go back across!)

Saints Cyril and Methodius church in Dubina

A short trip north on 1383 led us to St. John the Baptist Catholic church in
Ammannsville, Texas opened in 1890. Destroyed by the hurricane of 1909, the church was rebuilt. It burned shortly thereafter and had to be rebuilt a second time.

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St John the Baptist Church and Altar in Ammansville TX,

A quick tour of Schulenberg and a gas and water stop and we returned to San Antonio again by way of US 90  which provided a traffic free if not wind free scenic trip back home to traffic and reality. 245 miles and great company.  Inspite of the wind and chill it was a warm ride.