Panna Maria, Texas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Panna Maria (Polish for Miss Mary) is a small unincorporated town in Karnes County, Texas, United States. It is the oldest Polish settlement in the United States. A Franciscan missionary, Father Leopold Moczygemba, started recruiting Polish immigrants in 1852, and the town was settled on Christmas Eve, 1854.

According to The Handbook of Texas Online, the town's identity as an insular Polish enclave was sealed by four factors:

1. bypass by the railroad,
2. Union sympathy (Settlers were also unionist and were occasionally massacred in Texas during this period)
3. Polish Resurrectionist priests arrived from Europe
4. a sisterhood of Polish teaching nuns was established

[edit] External links

• Official website of Panna Maria, Texas
• Description in Texas Online
• Overview in info-poland.buffalo.edu - part 1,Part 2
• USGS GNIS: Panna Maria

• Panna Maria, Texas is at coordinates 28°57′29″N 97°53′50″W / 28.95806, -97.89722 (Panna Maria, Texas)Coordinates: 28°57′29″N 97°53′50″W / 28.95806, -97.89722 (Panna Maria, Texas)

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