Panna Maria (meaning Virgin Mary) is the oldest Polish settlement in the United States. Panna Maria was founded by Father Leopold Moczygemba along with about 100 Polish families from Płużnica and surrounding villages in Poland (at that time Prussia). They left Europe, and after a nine-week voyage at sea they reached the Port of Galveston. They hired carts to carry their belongings and walked to the junction of the San Antonio River and Cibolo Creek. There they celebrated their first Mass under an oak tree on December 24, 1854.

In 1855, they built their first church next to the oak tree and dedicated it to the Virgin Mother. The first church was destroyed by lightning in 1875. The present church was completed in 1877 and was enlarged in 1937.