The heart and soul of any community is its people.  People in Flatonia are friendly, inviting and the spirit of the community can be felt on every street corner.  Newcomers to Flatonia find that they can blend their own traditions and cultures with the area’s Southern hospitality and history, adding to a community rich in diversity and opportunity.

One of the true pleasures of calling Flatonia home is its downtown.  Residents and visitors can enjoy a leisurely stroll down Main Street within the 36 acres of the Flatonia Commercial Historic District listed in the National Register of Historic Places as they browse antique shops, take in beautiful architecture or watch passing railcars bound for unknown destinations.

Flatonia has numerous attractions for citizens and tourists to visit.  For golf enthusiasts, there is a superb, well-maintained 9-hole golf course where greens fees are low and there is never a wait to tee off.  The painted churches in the area are truly remarkable, and people love to visit the railroad park in Flatonia with one of the very few remaining rail switching towers left in existence today.  Flatonia is one of the few cities in the U.S. to have a train with North-South and East-West routes. 

The Flatonia Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Merchants Association host a fun, educational, and interesting event each month.  For more information on a Flatonia event, please call the Chamber office at 361-865-3920.

 

Painted Churches

Built by 19th century immigrants, the Painted Churches of Texas feature simple exteriors but incredibly beautiful interiors, where nearly every surface is covered with bright painting. There are more than twenty painted churches around Texas, ranging from simple to extremely elaborate. In 1984, fifteen of the churches were listed in the National Registrar of Historic Places.

The Painted Churches have been featured in numerous magazines, television programs and newspaper articles. A scenic tour of the churches in Fayette County are an easy day trip from Austin, Houston or San Antonio. The stone church was dedicated in 1895 with murals by Swiss-born painter Godfrey Flury. The artist was famous for painting opera house stages in New York, California, and San Antonio, but this is one of his surviving masterpieces. The ceiling is decorated with symbols, angels, gold scrolls, vines, and 66 different types of flowers and shrubs (but no bluebonnets). Behind the altar he painted Prague's main cathedral, St. Vitus, and an important Moravian convent. Remarkably, no part of the painting has ever needed to be retouched.