Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, West of Route 123, Cestohowa, Karnes County, TX

Significance: Cestohawa or Cestochowa or Czestochowa is in northern Karnes County, Texas. It was named for Cestchowa in Poland, meaning "hides often." From 1881 to 1891, the metropolis of Polish missions in Texas was the Parish of Czestochowa. The town has four stores, a Catholic school, and a static population of around one hundred people. Czestochowa is a farming community started in 1874 by forty Polish families who separated themselves from the oldest Polish colony in America, Panna Maria, five miles downstream on the Cibolo Creek. Dedication of the church took place on February 11, 1878. The church underwent extensive remodeling in 1930.
Survey number: HABS TX-3261