OUR HISTORY

Alpine was established in 1882 with the coming of the railroad.  It was originally named Osborne, he said, and was renamed Murphyville in 1888 after an Irish-Catholic named Daniel Murphy and his son Thomas acquired a substantial amount of land in the area.  The Murphy’s donated the land for the site of the church in 1888, and the town was renamed Alpine (Source: Odessa American article of November 17, 2002).
Our Lady of Peace was established in 1888. According to the Odessa American article, “prior to the completion of the first adobe church in 1902, services were held in the home of a freed slave named Green Harver and his Mexican wife, Martina Garcia.” At the time, there were 20 registered familied with the parish.
In 1902, the original church, which is currently used as the Parish Hall was erected and when formally dedicated, the church and parish were named Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe.  In the year 1926, the church was known as Our Lady of Peace.
Beginning in 1942, the current Our Lady of Peace Church was built.  According to the Odessa American article, “Even during the stringent years of World War II, the poor parishioners of Our Lady of Peace collected $10,000 in pennies, nickels and dimes for the construction of a much needed new building.  Native stone from a quarry in Toronto, just five miles west of Alpine, was used to build the church.  As a token of love for their church, parishioners brought their treasured objects—fossils, seashells, agates and other rocks—to press into the concrete spaces between the natural stone.”
In 1951, a Catholic chapel was dedicated in a section of Alpine that was once called Newtown.  This chapel was called Our Lady of Fatima and was built as a place of worship for those who did not have transportation to Our Lady of Peace and to take care of the crowded situation there.  The land was donated by Charlie Uranga.
Today, the parish counts about 130 registered families and is led by Reverend Edilberto “Beto” Lopez G. since 2017.