Before the Civil War, the first Catholic settlers came to Prairie View, now called Bridge City. They were dependent upon missionaries from other areas to minister to them. For a time they were served by a church built at Orangefield until it was destroyedby fire in the early 1900s.

In 1937, Father Joseph Berberich came to St. Mary in Orange as associate pastor under his brother, Father George Berberich. In 1938, Father Joe was instrumental in the founding of St. Helen Church in Orangefield.

Following the completion of the Rainbow Bridge in 1938, a great influx of people began arriving in Prairie View from other areas of Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana. As a result, the community developed between the Rainbow Bridge and the Cow Bayou Bridge. The community was renamed Bridge City. A number of Catholics were among the new residents, and attending Mass was a problem for many due to a lack of transportation. For those who did have transportation there were other problems as Texas Avenue was the only paved road. They were often forced to travel muddy roads to either Orange or Orangefield to attend Mass.

These Catholics approached Father Joe about building a church in Bridge City. An acre of land was donated by Mr. and Mrs. H. B. Morris in the spring of 1944. This began an all out effort to raise funds to build the first Catholic church in Bridge City. Many fund raising efforts were undertaken by interested parties and parishioners donated their time and labor to the project.

Amid great ceremony, St. Henry Catholic Church was dedicated on Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1946. His Excellency, the Most Rev. Christopher E. Byrne, Bishop of Galveston presided. The dedication was attended by several priests and numerous dignitaries from Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana. St. Henry was the third mission church built by Father Joe in Orange County and resulted from the determination and hard work of the many Catholics in the area.

After the completion of the church, St. Henry continued as a mission of St. Mary in Orange until May, 1948 when Bishop Byrne appointed Father Timothy T. Cronin as the first resident pastor. Father Cronin celebrated his first Mass as resident pastor on May 16,1948.

During its formation there were approximately 40 families in the parish. There are close to 750 families in the parish today. In the 50 years since its dedication there have been numerous pastors, buildings have been built and changed, but one thing has remained constant. St. Henry's is a strong parish made up of loving, caring Catholics who are thankful for the opportunity to practice their faith. The parish is grateful for the wonderful leadership we have had in the past 50 years, both earthly and heavenly, and look forward to a continuation of that leadership in the coming 50 years. May God Bless Us All!