German natives who had first settled in Colorado County came here in 1879 seeking better land, and, pleased with the soil and location, brought their families and immediately bought 100 acres for a church and school. The earliest Mass was held in 1882 in the home of the first settler, Theodore Rabroker. The original church building, completed in February 1884, was destroyed by a terrible storm the following May, and the congregation rebuilt it by July. As many German-American Catholic families moved into the area, Westphalia took its name from the province from which the early settlers came. Visiting priests served until 1893, when the Rev. Michael Heintzelmann became permanent pastor and led the congregation for the next 36 years. In 1895 the present church house, designed and built by A. Fuchs of Waco, was completed. Its stones were shipped by railroad from Muldoon, Texas, to Lott and then hauled here by wagon. The central church area forms a Latin cross, six inches of sway was built into the bell towers for safety in storms, the original-design stained glass windows are very rare and priceless, and the building is one of the largest wooden church buildings in the state.