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This is the history of a chapel in dickinson TX…very old…it was chosen as the hstorical place of the year in 2005 for the christmas ornament of the Dickinson Historical Society.. it was also featured in the Regina Coeli report and Angelus magazine at the time of its 30th anniversary. It is one of many famous landmarks in southeast Texas
Bobby Murphy & Mike Hatem

Queen of Angels Church is an old landmark in the small town of Dickinson, Texas on State Highway 3, between Houston and Galveston. The parish church has served Northern Galveston County for many years, and was originally formed in 1909. The present church building was constructed in the early 1940’s during World War II. The parish was first placed under the patronage of St. Joseph Church at its first dedication. Later, when the church received relics of the Holy Cross, it was renamed Shrine of the True Cross.

After Vatican II the Diocese of Galveston-Houston, in favor of the building of an ultra-modern style church a few miles away that was more suitable for the new theology that it symbolized, abandoned the church. The beautiful Spanish-mission style church was then put up for sale.

A group of dedicated Traditional Catholics purchased the property, and originally had masses said in the parish hall during the time that the church was being prepared for dedication. The parishioners installed an Italian marble altar with the corresponding statues, altar rail, and Stations of the Cross during this time. The Altar, along with rail, Stations of the Cross, and statues of the Sacred Heart, Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, and St. John the evangelist, were obtained for the St. Joseph’s hospital chapel in Kansas City when it closed down. The side altars dedicated to Ss. Joseph and Mary complement the main altar with the same marble structure. On July 10, 1977, the church was dedicated by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, attending was an overflow crowd of nearly one thousand people. Father Carl Pulvermacher O.F.M. Cap., who’s Requiem Mass was offered at Queen of Angels in June of 2006, served as the first pastor from the time of the dedication until 1991.

Queen of Angels was also the site of the humble beginnings of the Angelus Press, which Father Carl founded soon after the church was dedicated. Fr. Carl utilized his printing skills to this end, and the Angelus Press originally occupied several rooms of the current school building and bookstore. Traditional Catholic materials were printed and distributed around the world from here until the Angelus Press moved to a newly built, modern facility in Kansas City in 1991.

After the consolidation of the American branch of the Society of St. Pius X into one district in 1984, Queen of Angels also became the site of the District Headquarters of the Society (1983-87), with Father Hector Bolduc as the District Superior. Father Francois Laisney succeeded him as District Superior in 1985. The District Headquarters and Angelus Press were moved to Kansas City upon the completion of the new Regina Coeli House in 1991.

Queen of Angels has been pastored by Fathers Carl Pulvermacher, Daniel Cooper, Craig Bufe, Eric Simonot, Jason Huvar, and now by the present pastor, Father Stephen Stanich. It is the home to Queen of Angels Academy, one of only two Traditional Catholic schools in Texas, the well-stocked Queen of Angels Bookstore which is open daily, as well as the priory for the Society of St. Pius X in this part of the state.