Panna Maria (Polish for Virgin Mary) is a small unincorporated community in Karnes County, Texas, United States. It is the oldest Polish settlement in the United States.

Panna Maria, Texas
Unincorporated community
Immaculate Conception Catholic Church
Panna Maria Location in Texas and the United States Show map of Texas Panna Maria Panna Maria (the United States) Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 28°57′29″N 97°53′50″W
Country	United States
State	Texas
County	Karnes
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP codes	78144
GNIS feature ID	1364749[1]
Panna Maria Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Area	2,400 acres (970 ha)
Built	1854 (1854)
Architectural style	Gothic Revival, Polish Colonial
NRHP reference No.	76002043[2]
Added to NRHP	May 13, 1976

History

A Franciscan missionary, Father Leopold Moczygemba, started recruiting Upper Silesians in 1852, when Silesia belonged to the Kingdom of Prussia. The immigrants began arriving at Indianola in early December 1854. With carts to haul them inland being scarce, the immigrants walked to their land grants near San Antonio and the town was settled on Christmas Eve in 1854.

The town's identity as an insular Polish enclave was sealed by four factors:

1. Bypassed by the railroads
2. Union in 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

The Texas Silesian dialect has continued to be spoken for several generations.

The Panna Maria Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[3]

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Karnes County, Texas
• Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks in Karnes County

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Panna Maria, Texas.

• Official website of Panna Maria, Texas
• "Panna Maria" Handbook of Texas Online.
• Stanley S. (1976). In Quest of a Cultural Identity: An Inquiry for the Polish Community. New York, New York: IUME, Teachers College, Columbia University. ISBN ERIC ED167674.
• Overview in info-poland.buffalo.edu - part 1, Part 2
• THE EARLY HISTORY OF PANNA MARIA, TEXAS by Thomas Lindsay Baker
• U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Panna Maria