Many Catholic Czechoslovakian immigrants settled in the prairies near East Bernard in the 1880s, and visiting priests served their religious needs. In 1900 the settlers began establishing a parish by purchasing cemetery property in East Bernard. The first Holy Cross Church, a small frame structure, was built in 1905 by Valentine Kozelsky on two acres of land donated by Jan and Anna Vacek. A rectory was built in 1921 for the first permanent resident pastor, the Rev. Joseph C. Kunc, and Holy Cross Catholic School was organized in 1922. A new church building was constructed in 1925 by R. H. Reese of Eagle Lake to a Spanish Colonial Revival design by Houston architect M. J. Sullivan. It featured a 70-foot belfry and imported Czechoslovakian adornments, including statues, painted copper wall hangings, and 10 large stained glass windows of Roundel design. A new school and convent were built in 1928 in the same architectural style, and the school operated until 1967. The Pioneer Chapel, a model of the original church, was built in 1994. Holy Cross Catholic Church is now the oldest Catholic church in continuous use in Wharton County.