24/7 Biohazard and Crime Scene Cleanup in Nazareth, TX

Nazareth is a small city in eastern Castro County, Texas, at the junction of State Highway 86 and Farm Road 168 on the high plains of the Llano Estacado, about 58 miles south of Amarillo, covering just 0.36 square miles.

Nazareth was established in 1902 by Catholic priest Joseph Reisdorff, who moved to the site with four farmers and named the colony after the biblical Nazareth.

Father Reisdorff advertised for settlers in German Catholic newspapers across the Midwest, and the first colonists arrived in September 1902.

A post office opened in 1903, the Catholic community completed its first church later that year, the town had 71 residents by January 1904, and it was platted in 1904.

Nazareth's community cemetery, consecrated in 1906, was the only cemetery for miles around.

Life in Nazareth still revolves around Holy Family Church - as late as the mid-1980s about 85 percent of residents were Catholic, and church activities have long bonded the community together.

The Nazareth Christmas Pageant, a community production depicting the birth and childhood of Christ staged for nearly half a century, packs Holy Family Church, whose pews seat just over 700 people - more than twice the town's population.

Nazareth counted about 150 residents by 1927, fell back to about 50 in 1933, and peaked at 356 residents in the 2000 census before easing to 311 in 2010 and 310 in 2020.

At the 2000 census, Nazareth's 356 residents lived in 125 households and 93 families.

Nazareth High School's girls basketball team, the Swiftettes, is a Texas legend - the program has won 27 UIL state championships, a Texas record, across more than 30 trips to the state tournament.