MARTIN COUNTY, Texas — History behind these four-foot-thick Adobe walls shaped Martin County and the City of Stanton.
"It was built by monks [Carmelites] who migrated from Europe in the 1880s," Reggie Baker, Board President of the 1884 Plaza, said. "They came to a cluster community in Kansas and later migrated to what we now know as Stanton, Texas. They came here and found the town of Marienfeld in 1882 and started building a theological training center, a monastery."
But the monks couldn’t do it all themselves, they needed people to help them staff their parochial school.
"The Sisters of Mercy came along at the request of the monks in the 1890s," Baker said.
And those sisters proved to be the perfect people for the job.
"The kind of education that was offered here was unparalleled in this part of the world," Baker said. "A graduate of this school would have been taught not only the core subjects of reading, writing, arithmetic, history and so on. But also, literature, foreign languages, vocal training, music, training, playing all sorts of instruments, career training and for those who wanted, they taught embroidery in addition to other household skills."
And these women's legacies didn't stop there.
"We've tracked the careers of many of their students," Baker said. "Some of them went on to be wives of governors and accountants and were quite successful as women in the 1920s and 30s. [...] So these ladies left quite a legacy. They were very much pioneers in the education field."
By 1894, the monks moved on, and the property was sold to the sisters.
"The sisters repurposed this site as a convent," Baker said. "And the building across the way here that the monks had built for additional dorm space became the girl's dormitory and then the north connecting building was built by the sisters as a girl's dormitory, kitchen, classrooms and offices."
The sisters lived here until 1938 when a tornado struck Stanton, causing significant damage that unfortunately forced them out.
"For a long time after the sisters moved on, it became a residential domicile," Baker said. "But after a couple of owners, it was abandoned, fell into disrepair. But fortunately, in the 1970s, the local Jaycee's organized, set up a non-profit and began using it as a haunted house."
After that spooky era, there was a sense of hope for the once abandoned monastery.
"In the 1980s, the Martin County Convent Foundation Nonprofit Historical Restoration was founded, and ownership transferred to them," Baker said. "And ever since then, the community has really rallied around this site."
And now 140 years later, it's the last existing structure from 1880s Martin County.
"So, we felt it was important to put everything back exactly the way it was," Baker said. "We serve up a slice of monastic life from that era, the inside furnishings are of the era. And so, we try to really give a sense of what it would have been like to have been a resident here."
So, after a period of darkness, Martin County would be unrecognizable without this historical structure.
The 1884 Plaza has been a huge venue in Stanton with local farmer’s markets, receptions, graduations, weddings and more.
And they’re continuing to build, as they’re rebuilding many buildings around the monastery to further continue the allure of the convent.
The building across from the convent will be called Marienfeld Hall, and that will house a ballroom, a kitchen, library archives and a board room.
On the side of the monastery will be the Saint Joseph Chapel, which will be a place that will be able to seat 150 guests making for even larger weddings.
The completion date is set for Oct. 2024.
So, let’s just say this structure from the 1880s won’t be going anywhere for a very long time.
To learn more about the Martin County Convent, visit their Facebook page or website.