The St. Francis Church and Cemetery is situated southwest of Wadsworth, Texas, on FM 521 in an area originally known as the "Polish Village." Many of the early settlers in this section of Matagorda County came from Lagiewvnik, District of Lublinitz , Prussia .

The St. Francisville residents' love for religion was so great that they requested visiting priests from Houston, Victoria, Liberty, and Galveston to hold services at the home of Mrs. Frank Seerden (Mary Jadwiga Petrucha Seerden).

Mrs. Frank Seerden, a native of Linz, Prussia, gave 1.55 acres of land for a church and cemetery. The deed dated December 21, 1895, was recorded in the Matagorda County Deed Records Volume 3, Page 506-507. Various citizens were appointed to take up collections for the materials and construction of the first church.

         
The first church was built in 1895 by contractors from Hitchcock , Texas . Mrs. Seerden ordered an altar from England and had it shipped to Liberty , Texas . From Liberty , the altar was brought by wagon to St. Francisville. This first church was  destroyed by a storm in 1896. The men of the community rebuilt the church that same year. The second church was not as tall as the first, and the altar had to be shortened six inches.

The first burials in St. Francis Cemetery were in 1899. Barbara Herreth Petrucha, originally from Vienna , Austria , died August 25, 1899 . Maria Petrucha Butter, sister of Mary Petrucha Seerden, died October 6, 1899 , and was the second person buried in the cemetery.

In 1930, Zefflick Butter, a nephew of Mary Jadwiga Seerden,  donated an acre to the church and cemetery to bring it to its current size. The 2.55 acres are enclosed with a chain link fence.

In 1965 St. Francis Catholic Church was designated as a Texas Historic Landmark. The marker reads:

St. Francis Catholic Church, 1895. First Euro-American Roman Catholic Church in county. Land a gift of Mrs. Frank Seerden and Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Butter. In Polish Village . Rebuilt following 1896 hurricane destruction.

A correction was added to the marker in 1985:

Later research showed original land donors were Mrs. Frank Seerden and her nephew, Zeflick "Z" Butter.