Scenics Archives - Page 2 of 2 - James DeCamp Photography

St. Mary’s Church of the Assumption

St. Mary’s Church of the Assumption in Praha, Texas, one of the Texas Painted Churches photographed Wednesday August 3, 2016.

More images available in a gallery HERE.

The present stone church was completed November 20, 1895. Since then it has undergone many phases of renovations and restorations. The latest changes took place in 1965 with the liturgical changes of the Second Vatican Council. A new altar was put in front of the reredos (the present main back altar) so that the presider would face the worshipping assembly. The wooden floor in the sanctuary was covered with green shag carpet. The rest of the church floor was covered with green and white vinyl tile. The Ambo (pulpit) was removed and replaced with a simple wooden structure. The walls of the church were painted an off white color. Ceiling fans with light kits replaced the old light fixtures installed in the 1930s with the advent of electricity.

The present Renovation/Restoration Project began in 2011 with the replacement of the leaking shingle roof with a copper roof by Tejas Roofing, Fredericksburg. A new drainage system on the west side of the church was installed to divert the rain water from flooding the basement of the church as it had done for years.

In January 2015, the church was closed to worshippers and the interior restoration work began. A part of the St. Mary’s School was converted into a worshipping space for the Sunday liturgy.

In 1865, the settlers, though having little or no money and barely enough food for their own survival, did build a small chapel.

This chapel, measuring 17-feet by 15-feet, was made of stones. The walls were 18 inches thick. Considering the thickness of the walls, the chapel inside measured only 15 1/2 feet by 13 1/2 feet – not much larger than many a room in a modern home.

The stones used in the chapel are much smaller than the ones used to build the present church, and appear to be slabs of stone ranging from one to five inches in thickness.

About 90 feet slight northwest of the chapel, the people also built a small stone hut measuring 14-feet by 14-feet wherein the visiting priests could stay while in this area. He could also robe for Mass here as the chapel was too small to accommodate a sacristy. The walls of this hut were also 18 inches thick. There was one 14-inch by 14-inch window in the north side with four criss-crossed iron bars imbedded in the windowsill, apparently to keep out large predators. The large door on the south side was made of 1 by 6 inch planks, complete with a hard-carved 1-1/2 inch peg three inches long still in place in the door frame wich appears to have been used to latch the door.

These structures still sand on Knezek Road, about 1/2 mile east of the present church, on property now owned by Elton and Henrietta Moeller. Mr. Moeller stated that the sandstone, or rock stone as they are commonly known in the area, still turned up when his pond was shaped and the land was worked. These stones are like the ones used to build the chapel and the hut.

The first Mass was offered in the chapel at midnight on Christmas Eve in 1865. The celebrant was Father Joseph Bittkowski, a Benedictine missionary priest who was serving in this area of Texas under the jurisdiction of the Resurrectionist Missionaries. These missionaries had come to Texas to minister to the Polish People.

St. Mary’s Church of the Assumption in Praha, Texas, one of the Texas Painted Churches photographed Wednesday August 3, 2016. (© James D. DeCamp | http://www.JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

August 3, 2016/0 Comments/by James

St. Mary Catholic Church High Hill

Images, Places, Religious, Scenics, Travel

St. Mary Catholic Church in High Hill, Texas, one of the Texas Painted Churches photographed Wednesday August 3, 2016.

St. Mary Catholic Church is nestled in the community of High Hill, Texas, just 3 miles north of I-10 in Schulenburg. The area, rich in a German-Czech heritage, was established more than 150 years ago. With its ornate design, paintings and stained-glass windows, St. Mary is known as the Queen of the Painted Churches on The Painted Churches of Texas tour and is visited by hundreds of visitors every year.

The St. Mary parish also holds one of the larger picnics in the area every year on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. Our parish picnic features a home-cooked German-style meal, the sounds of area German and Czech bands, a live auction, country store, souvenir booth, bingo, horseshoe tournament, games for the kids, and much, much more. The day starts off with a special mass and is topped off with an evening fireworks spectacular! This event attracts hundreds of parishioners and guests every year.

St. Mary Catholic Church in High Hill, Texas, one of the Texas Painted Churches photographed Wednesday August 3, 2016. (© James D. DeCamp | http://www.JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

August 3, 2016/0 Comments/by James

Oil Wells Working

Images, Places, Scenics, Travel

Oil wells working in the scub brush of Lavaca County Texas photographed Wednesday August 3, 2016.

More images available HERE.

Oil wells working in the scub brush of Lavaca County Texas photographed Wednesday August 3, 2016. (© James D. DeCamp | http://www.JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

August 3, 2016/0 Comments/by James

Hayden Falls

Personal, Places, Scenics

Hayden Falls Park in Columbus, Ohio photographed Tuesday morning August 9, 2011. (© James D. DeCamp | http://www.JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

High quality and high resolution virtual reality panorama by James DeCamp Photography. (© James D. DeCamp | http://www.ColumbusVirtualTour.com | 614-367-6366)

More images at DeCampPhotoWorks.com

Panoramas of Hayden Falls can be viewed on ColumbusVirtualTours.com

August 9, 2011/0 Comments/by James

Lynd’s Fruit Farm

People, Scenics, Travel, Wild Art

Corn against a pure blue sky at Lynd’s Fruit Farm in Licking County photographed Saturday October 20, 2007. (© James D. DeCamp 614-367-6366)

Dan Duncan, Tractor Driver, pilots his 1947 Model A John Deer Tractor through the fields of Lynd’s Fruit Farm in Licking County photographed Saturday October 20, 2007. (© James D. DeCamp | http://www.JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366) [Photographed with Canon 1D MkII cameras in RAW mode with L series lenses]

Ron Chapman, Tractor Driver, prepares to pilot his 1947 Model B John Deer Row Crop Tractor through the fields of Lynd’s Fruit Farm in Licking County photographed Saturday October 20, 2007. (© James D. DeCamp | http://www.JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366) [Photographed with Canon 1D MkII cameras in RAW mode with L series lenses]

A 1947 Model A John Deer Tractor in the fields of Lynd’s Fruit Farm in Licking County photographed Saturday October 20, 2007. (© James D. DeCamp | http://www.JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366) [Photographed with Canon 1D MkII cameras in RAW mode with L series lenses]

The Chatterton family lead by Mom Carol makes their way through the corn maze in the fields of Lynd’s Fruit Farm in Licking County photographed Saturday October 20, 2007. (© James D. DeCamp | http://www.JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366) [Photographed with Canon 1D MkII cameras in RAW mode with L series lenses] POY2007 Entry

Soybeans in the fields of Lynd’s Fruit Farm in Licking County photographed Saturday October 20, 2007. (© James D. DeCamp | http://www.JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366) [Photographed with Canon 1D MkII cameras in RAW mode with L series lenses]

Madison Justus, 18 months, is more fainated with the vines in the pumpkin patch than the actual pumpkins during her first visit to the fields of Lynd’s Fruit Farm in Licking County Saturday October 20, 2007. Madison was hunting pumpkins with her grandparents Gary & Samantha Justus from Columbus. (© James D. DeCamp | http://www.JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366) [Photographed with Canon 1D MkII cameras in RAW mode with L series lenses]

Ty Wallace, 12, Pickerington, tosses a pumpkin in the air in the fields of Lynd’s Fruit Farm in Licking County Saturday afternoon October 20, 2007. (© James D. DeCamp | http://www.JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366) [Photographed with Canon 1D MkII cameras in RAW mode with L series lenses] POY2007 Entry

Janiyah Woods, 4, Columbus, carries a pumpkin from the patch in the fields of Lynd’s Fruit Farm in Licking County Saturday afternoon October 20, 2007. (© James D. DeCamp | http://www.JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366) [Photographed with Canon 1D MkII cameras in RAW mode with L series lenses]

October 20, 2007/0 Comments/by James

St. Mary’s Church of the Assumption

St. Mary Catholic Church High Hill

Oil Wells Working

Hayden Falls

Lynd’s Fruit Farm

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