About Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Mission · Bigfoot, Texas
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Mission is a small Catholic mission church serving the unincorporated community of Bigfoot in northeastern Frio County, Texas. Established in 1890 to minister to the predominantly Catholic settlers of German and Bohemian descent who ranched in the area, the mission has been a quiet spiritual anchor in Bigfoot for more than 130 years. It is currently administered as a mission of St. Joseph Catholic Church in nearby Devine, Texas, which oversees both Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Bigfoot and St. Augustine Mission in Moore. The mission is part of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of San Antonio and continues to gather the rural ranching community for weekly Mass and the sacraments.
- Established
- 1890
- Patron
- Our Lady of Mount Carmel
- Rector
- Rev. Robert Ploch
- Diocese
- Metropolitan Archdiocese of San Antonio
Why belong here
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Mission offers the small but faith-filled ranching community of Bigfoot a regular Sunday Mass celebrated by priests from the parent parish of St. Joseph in Devine. As a mission church, it brings the sacraments — including Reconciliation before every Mass — directly to a rural stretch of Frio County that would otherwise be underserved. Worshippers who attend participate in a centuries-old Catholic tradition rooted in the German and Bohemian Catholic settlers who first built this community of faith in the 1890s.
Mass times at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Mission
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- 30 minutes before every Mass at all locations and by appointment if needed
About Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Mission
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Mission is a small Catholic mission church serving the unincorporated community of Bigfoot in northeastern Frio County, Texas. It is one of three churches in the St. Joseph Catholic pastoral family, alongside the main parish of St. Joseph in Devine and St. Augustine Mission in Moore. The mission is part of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of San Antonio and is currently administered by Rev. Robert Ploch, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Devine.
- Type: Mission Church
- Diocese: Metropolitan Archdiocese of San Antonio
- Parent parish: St. Joseph Catholic Church, Devine, TX
- Address: 14024 FM 472, Bigfoot, TX 78005
- Phone: (830) 663-2244
History of the Parish
Catholic worship in Bigfoot dates to 1890, when settlers of German and Bohemian descent established the mission to serve the scattered ranching community. The community of Bigfoot itself had been settled around 1865 and was formally named in 1883 after the Texas Ranger William A. A. "Bigfoot" Wallace. A second key date in parish history is 1952, recorded by GCatholic, likely tied to a significant rebuilding or expansion as the area grew with the development of the Bigfoot oilfield in the 1950s. The mission has historically been linked to surrounding parishes — in 1986, records show it was served as a mission of Immaculate Heart of Mary in Pearsall, alongside St. Joseph's in Devine and St. Augustine in Moore.
- Catholic mission established: 1890 (GCatholic); sacramental records date to 1899
- Secondary milestone: 1952 (rebuilding/expansion)
- 1986: Served as a mission of Immaculate Heart of Mary, Pearsall
- Today: Mission of St. Joseph Parish, Devine
Parish Staff and Leadership
The mission is administered as part of the St. Joseph Catholic Church pastoral family in Devine, TX. The current administrator is Rev. Robert Ploch. The Devine parish office handles inquiries and sacramental coordination for all three churches in the grouping.
- Administrator / Pastor: Rev. Robert Ploch
- Parish Office (St. Joseph, Devine): (830) 663-2244
- Email: [email protected]
Visiting Bigfoot, Texas
Bigfoot is a tiny unincorporated community and census-designated place in northeastern Frio County, Texas, at the intersection of Farm roads 462 and 472. The community is named for the famed Texas Ranger William A. A. "Bigfoot" Wallace, and the Bigfoot Wallace Museum — an exact replica of Wallace's home — is located in the community. As of the 2020 census, Bigfoot had a population of 480.
- Location: Northeastern Frio County, Texas
- Nearest larger town: Devine, TX (~11 miles)
- County seat (Pearsall): ~21 miles southwest
- Downtown San Antonio: ~30 miles northeast
- Named for: William A. A. "Bigfoot" Wallace, Texas Ranger