St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church has served the spiritual needs of this region since the late nineteenth century. Before its establishment, Catholics in Pilot Point, organized in 1854, had no nearby place of worship and many early area Catholics, many of German origin, traveled two days to attend services in Gainesville or Sherman. In the 1890s, Flusche Brothers and Sullivan recruited German settlers to the town, increasing the need for a Catholic church. Sixty-three residents and visitors gathered in 1891 for the first Mass in town, and by 1892 parishioners had raised funds to build a structure. The Diocese of Dallas consecrated St. Thomas Aquinas Church on March 7, the feast day of St. Thomas. The next year, the church opened a school and secured land for a cemetery, and in 1904 members built a larger sanctuary. The parish prospered until the economic depression of the 1930s, then began to grow again in 1936 under Father Paul Charcut, who was active in church and civic affairs in Pilot Point. In the years that followed, the church created important programs to help people in need through charitable contributions, and members served as civic leaders, entered religious vocations, or participated in the U.S. military during wartime. It continues its historic role as a spiritual and community leader for the surrounding area.