Panna Maria, Texas

Immaculate Conception Parish in Panna Maria, Texas

If you’re driving fast along the FM-81 in Texas, chances are you might miss the small settlement of Panna Maria. Consisting of no more than a few houses and the 19th century Immaculate Conception Church, Panna Maria is the oldest Polish settlement in the United States. One hundred and fifty-five years ago around 800 Poles left their homes in Upper Silesia and Krakow to seek better lives in Texas. Their leader was a Conventual Franciscan friar named Leopold Moczygemba.

Friar Leopold Moczygemba

The Polish settlers’ trip from Europe to Galveston, Texas took nine harrowing weeks by ship. From there the settlers traveled another 200 miles by foot to their new home. Panna Maria is roughly 53 miles southeast of San Antonio. Father Leopold had bought the land from a banker named John Twohig.

 

Countryside around Panna Maria

Life was not easy for the settlers of Panna Maria. For a long time they struggled to make ends meet. Luckily their legacy continues today; it is clearly visible in the richness of Texas’ history and culture. Friar Leopold ended up leaving Panna Maria after a dispute to minister to newly arrived Poles in Detroit, where he died and was buried. In 1974, however, his body was exhumed and laid to rest in Panna Maria. The tensions of life had dissipated after his death.