09/04/2026
OUR CATHEDRAL STORY | The church buildings of our parish that came before the Cathedral
Sacred Heart Cathedral’s story began long before the present building.
In 1874, land in the young Village of Saint Angela was deeded to the Bishop of Galveston for just $5, for the purpose of building a Catholic church.
By 1884, a small red sandstone church was taking shape at Beauregard and Chadbourne. Local recollections tell a wonderful story: whenever work on the new courthouse stopped because materials were unavailable, Father Parrier, our first pastor, persuaded the stonecutters and laborers to come one block over and work on his little church instead.
That first church — dedicated as Immaculate Conception Church — became the beginning of the Catholic community whose home today is Sacred Heart Cathedral.
But the little church would not be the parish’s home for long. As San Angelo and its Catholic community grew, plans were made for a larger church on the opposite side of the block. In 1906, the parish name is changed and the new Sacred Heart Church was dedicated on the site where our Cathedral stands today.
Two churches, on opposite sides of the same block, tell the beginning of our Cathedral story.
More than 140 years later, that story continues.
