Stella Maris Chapel

Stella Maris Chapel stands on the Lamar Peninsula as the oldest surviving structure in Aransas County. Built in 1854 by Irish colonists using shellcrete — a local mixture of oyster shells and cement — the chapel served the small but devout Catholic community that had settled along Copano Bay. The name "Stella Maris" means Star of the Sea, a traditional title of the Virgin Mary and a fitting dedication for a coastal community whose livelihood depended on the bay. The chapel survived the Civil War sacking of Lamar in 1864 and the slow decline of the town that followed, standing long after the community around it had vanished.