Design work began for St. Patrick's, Denison, in 1891 when [Nicholas Joseph] Clayton proposed a typical Gothic church, made unique with the rotation of the main tower to a forty-five-degree angle to the line of the nave. This clever idea died and was not proposed again. As it was built, St. Patrick's, Denison (1896–98), had a more conventional solution. This church was similar to St. Francis Xavier [Alexandria, Louisiana], but its decorative details were more complex.

Clayton did display one new predilection, a taste for consciously brutal effect, first visible in the details of such ecclesiastical projects from the late 1890s as St. Patrick's, Denison. The projects for the reconstruction of Sacred Heart, Galveston (1902), and the addition of a three-story wing to St. Mary's Seminary, La Porte (1906), exemplified this aesthetic.... Increasingly, Clayton's drawings mirrored this trend toward coarseness.

207.            St. Patrick's Church (Project) (1891–92)

            314 North Rusk Avenue at Sears Street, Denison, Texas

            See No. 243.

            NJC(SD): Jan. 16 and Feb. 25, 1892. RL: Sketch plans, Nov. 28, 1891, and Jan. 16, 1892.

243.            St. Patrick's Church (1896–98)

            314 North Rusk Avenue at Sears Street, Denison, Texas

          Following preparation of an earlier set of plans (No. 207), Clayton produced a somewhat reduced design, which reportedly was built for $30,000. The scope of even this more economical version was reduced further during construction, which began in 1897. Bishop Dunne of Dallas presided at the dedication in December 1898. Ed Finn was stone contractor, and M. J. Leonard was carpentry contractor. In 1911, St. Patrick's was destroyed by fire, but it was rebuilt according to Clayton's original (as-built) plans. It has not been determined whether Clayton was involved in the reconstruction, completed in 1912. Extant.
Note : It is usually said that it was rebuilt to the original design. However, the two sets of photos show that there were indeed changes (simplifications) between the first church and the second church. Especially look at the front entrance to see this.

            NJC(LCB): Dec. 12, 1898. Southern Architect 7 (Apr., 1896): 105. Southern Messenger, Aug. 5, 1897; Jan. 13 and Dec. 15, 1898; Sept. 12, 1901. RL: Perspective.

Fig. 174.            St. Patrick's Church, 314 North Rusk Avenue at Sears Street, Denison, Texas. Built 1896–98 and rebuilt 1911; N. J. Clayton, architect; extant. Rosenberg Library, Galveston.

EXCERPT FROM
Barrie Scardino and Drexel Turner, Clayton’s Galveston: The Architecture of Nicholas J. Clayton and His Contemporaries (College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press, 2000).