Wallis's German-speaking Lutheran community founded St. Paul Lutheran Church at the turn of the 20th century. The congregation held its first service in July 1900 and planned to build a church that fall, but the September 1900 hurricane postponed construction. It received official recognition in October as St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church of Wallis, Tx. From 1903 to 1906, the congregation hired its first pastor and erected a permanent structure for worship, and the parish began to flourish in 1909. The ordination of a new pastor in 1916 created a divide within the congregation, and the onset of World War I increased tensions and led to the discontinuation of German in services. In October, lightning struck the church and killed a child. After this turbulent period, the church became self-supporting in 1918, later established a missionary organization for women formerly known as the Ladies Aid, and in 1922 a new pastor reinstated German in services, which the congregation later discontinued again in 1943. The parish built its current facility in 1966, celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2000, and dedicated a new education building and fellowship hall in 2003, reflecting the longstanding legacy of Wallis's Lutheran community.