The History of St. Cyprian's Parish


St. Cyprian's grew out of the missionary efforts of Father George Crocket, rector of Christ Church, San Augustine, one of the oldest Protestant congregations in the state. Father Crocket was one of those individuals who today seem larger than life: besides founding congregations in several East Texas cities, Father Crocket was an author and scholar, who concluded his career as Professor Emeritus of History at what is now Stephen F. Austin State University. A skilled woodcarver, one of his works, an ornate cross is displayed in the narthex at St. Cyprian's.

Father Crocket traveled from San Augustine to Lufkin in early 1893, holding his first services in the home of R. B. Shearer (the Shearers never joined the parish)and the next year establishing a missionary congregation named for St. Mary. He held periodic services until 1895 when local hostility from churches thinking the parish to be Roman forced Father Crocket to abandon his missionary efforts in Lufkin. Not even a visit from Bishop Kinsolving, could assist with the continuation of services. The mission remained dormant for eight years. Finally, by 1903, even though all the original members had been forced to leave town , new resident families overcame the opposition and invited Father Crocket to return. The congregation was reorganized and assumed its present name, St. Cyprian's. Many theories have been advanced, but no one today knows why Father Crocket and the congregation chose the North African saint as a patron.

Services were held at the Hoo Hoo Hall (home of a local fraternal organization) until the church was built at Second and Paul. The congregation became a parish in 1943, 50 years after Father Crocket's first visit. In 1955, when John Caskey was rector, the parish began a day school, which pioneered the education of dyslexic children in the region.

Father Caskey's tenure was marked by another great milestone in parish history. The old church building downtown burned in 1969. A large, modern church building was built on a seventeen-acre tract on the outskirts of town, at the corner of Loop 287 and Pershing Avenue. This move was completed in 1972. In 1984, the School moved into its own facilities on an adjacent fifteen-acre tract.

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