Our Mother of Mercy Church established circa 1950, was previously in Port Bolivar. John Nova Lomax of the "Houston Press" wrote that the church "was the site of many marriages and funerals for generations of Bolivarians." It closed after Hurricane Ike in 2008. At the end of its life, its congregation numbered 75, although in summer months vacationers also attended church there. Lomax described it as "a dowdy, declining parish". Archbishop Joseph Fiorenza had it razed, despite the lack of damage from the hurricane. The archdiocese argued that keeping the structure would cause further expenses, and that future weather issues could damage the building. Lomax wrote "the archdiocese viewed the church as old and in the way".