After obtaining 75,000 acres of Archer County land for a farm colony in 1891, German-American Catholics planted a cross here and laid off Windthorst around a 20-acre site for a church, school, and rectory. Ernest Hoff built the town's first structure, a home. There on Jan. 1, 1892, Father Joseph F. Reisdorf celebrated the first mass in Windthorst before 10 parishioners. The first church was dedicated in 1893 and the second in 1904. The present church, the third for the parish, was completed in 1925. Two members of the parish became priests, and St. Mary's Church continues to be the center of community life.