The Convent

The Convent

 With the purpose of founding a monastery and a German Catholic Colony, Carmelite Monks, in 1881, began the first Catholic Church between Fort Worth and El Paso. The adobe and brick monastery was completed in 1884, and St. Joseph's Church in 1885.

 Sisters of Divine Providence opened a short-lived school in 1887. It was reopened in 1894 by the Sisters of Mercy. In 1897, the Carmelite Monks disbanded and sold the property to the Sisters of Mercy. They operated a convent and academy until abandonment in 1938 (due to a tornado on June 11, 1938). All that remains are the dormitory, ruins of the other buildings and the cemetery.

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