| Marker Number |
11880 |
| Atlas Number |
5149011880 |
| Marker Title |
St. Peter Lutheran Church and Prairie Valley Cemetery |
| Index Entry |
Saint Peter Lutheran Church and Prairie Valley Cemetery |
| Address |
640 Prairie Valley Road |
| City |
West Point |
| County |
Fayette |
| UTM Zone |
|
| UTM Easting |
|
| UTM Northing |
|
| Subject Codes |
cemetery; Lutheran denomination; churches; German immigrants/immigration |
| Marker Year |
1998 |
| Recorded Texas Historic Landmark |
No |
| Marker Location |
|
| Private Property |
No |
| Marker Condition |
In Situ |
| Marker Size |
18" x 28" |
| Marker Text |
Sixteen families led by the Rev. R. Osthoff organized this church in 1896. The congregation met at the schoolhouse and Knights of Honor Lodge. Dietrich Hermann Wessels donated two acres for a church and cemetery across the road from the lodge hall in 1900. The first burial was that of Heinrich Georg Wessels in 1900. The St. Petri congregation was recognized by the Missouri Synod in January 1901; the church building was completed in February. Most of the grave inscriptions before the 1930s are in German. Church services were held in German until 1935. Burials in the cemetery are almost all those of church members, including the charter families. With about seventy members and more than 121 graves, both church and cemetery remain active. (1999) |
