I first learned of St. Francis, Texas in 1978 while doing research concerning German settlements in the Panhandle-Plains of Texas. By 1980 I managed to visit the community as part of a larger research program on European ethnicity in Northwest Texas. The people of St. Francis Parish showed me the finest hospitality and offered as much help in my work as any person could ask for. Thus when they asked my advice and help in preparing their history, I deemed it an honor to be able to repay their kindness.  

St. Francis is characteristic of those German-Catholic communities established in the Texas Panhandle during the first years of the twentieth century. Common factors of those communities are: 1) they were founded as part of a land promotion; 2) they are all in rural orientation; 3) the settlers were recruited from the Midwest; 4) they were a secondary settlement group which was already largely assimilated into American life; 5) they represented a minority religious group in the region; 6) they shared a frontier environment experience the first several years of their life on the plains. These experiences St. Francis shares with similar communities throughout the area which tends to make them, as a group, unique. 

The German-Catholics who settled in these "folk islands" are largely responsible for the 1927 establishment of the Diocese of Amarillo. They represent the first great influx of Catholics into the Texas Panhandle and, as such, built a number of churches and created an incessant demand for more priests to serve the growing Catholic population. Thus, the first firm foundation of the Catholic organization in the Panhandle was the work of these communities. 

St. Francis has survived seventy-five years of growth and change to remain essentially a small rural Catholic parish whose members maintain a steadfast Christian attitude. Today when a scholar investigates this community for residual German ethnic characteristics, he must delve deeply into their historical background as well as their current psychological manifestations. Indeed the Germanic and Catholic aspects of St. Francis, as well as other German-Catholic communities in the Panhandle, are so intertwined that it is impossible to separate the two. This gives St. Francis its flavor and distinct personality in an age when you hear so much about the blandness and sameness of American society. St. Francis remains a solid German-Catholic "folk island" amidst a sea of change and uncertainty. 

Today St. Francis lies on the very eastern edge of Amarillo while industrial and government complexes encroach on it from all sides. Despite this constant pressure, the community retains its integrity as a rural parish with all the attendant strengths of that lifestyle. St. Francis Chruch and its activities remain the central facet of the community, and I have little doubt that this relationship will sustain the community through at least another seventy-five years of growth and change. 

Bobby Weaver - Canyon, Texas - 1983

Introduction from "Harvest of Memories - The St. Francis Story - 75th Diamond Jubilee Edition