With the purpose of founding a monastery and a German Catholic colony, Carmelite Monks, in 1881, began the first Catholic church between Fort Worth and El Paso. The adobe and brick monastery was completed in 1884, and St. Joseph's Church in 1885. Sisters of Divine Providence opened a short-lived school, 1887; reopened, 1894, by Sisters of Mercy. In 1897, Carmelite Monks disbanded and sold property to Sisters of Mercy, who operated a convent and academy until abandonment after tornado of June 11, 1938. All that remains are a dormitory, ruins of other buildings, and the cemetery. (1973)