The Painted Churches Tour is centered around Schulenburg,
Texas, about halfway between Houston and San Antonio on Interstate 10. The
Tour consists of a drive along winding country roads between a half-dozen
ornately decorated churches built in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries.
The nickname "Painted" was earned by the intricate
paintings on the ceilings and walls. The townsfolk didn't stop with
painting and many donated statues, stained glass windows and other artifacts.
These churches, as you can see by the pictures below, were
truly the center of life for the parishioners. You'd never know it by how
beautiful they made their churches but these folk were mostly poor "working
class" farmers newly arrived in Texas from their homes in Germany and
Czechoslovakia.
If you're ever near Schulenburg, be sure to visit the painted
churches. However, be advised that unless you arrange for a tour in
advance some of the church sanctuaries may be closed to the public,
although you will still be able to peek inside from the narthex.
Since there is so much detail in the pictures, they cannot be
appreciated "shrunk" down as in other pictures on this web site.
So I have included them here as "Thumbnail" snapshots. To view
the full size picture, simply click on each thumbnail and wait a few
moments. To return to this page, click your browser's "back"
button. These pictures were scanned into the computer from slides.
High Hill Catholic Church
Built 1901
This is the most ornate of the churches on the tour. It had beautiful hand paintings on the ceiling but I was unable to photograph most of them. You can see some painted angels on the wall in the middle top picture below. As the name implies it is built on the top of a hill in what was once the town of "High Hill." We saw its steeple long before arriving on the church grounds.
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Praha Catholic Church
Built 1892
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Freburg United Methodist Church
Built 1879
This is the smallest and oldest of the churches. It does not have the painted ceilings or other fancy decorations. Its lone distinguishing feature is its small stained window.
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United Evangelical Lutheran Church
Built 1890
This is one of the churches that had its sanctuary closed. The photo was taken from the Narthex at the rear of the sanctuary.
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St. John The Baptist Catholic Church
Built 1890
Again, access to this church was limited so photos were taken in low light from the rear of the church. Its steeple is quite high, and unlike the other churches it's located on fairly flat terrain without high trees nearby making it appear much taller than it actually is. Even though it's not on a hill, the steeple is visible for miles in every direction.
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Dubina (Catholic?) Church
Built 1912
Interior photo was taken through a barricade in the rear of the church.
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Shown below is a map of the tour. For more information, visit http://www.schulenburgchamber.org/ click on the "See/Do" link at the page bottom then select the "Painted Churches" link.
