The town of Balmorhea serves as a gateway to the nearby Balmorhea State Park and the ghost town of Calera. Calera Chapel, better known as Mission Mary, a small adobe chapel built for the people of Calera, is what remains of this smalll community. Mission Mary was established in 1902 by Father Nicolas Brocardus, a thirty-four year old Dutch priest who traveled the region performing services including baptisms and marriages. Grateful for his services, the Calera community built Father Brocardus a chapel from rock and adobe, a tiny structure that provided religious support for Calera residents until the early 1940s. Unable to sustain a congregation, the chapel fell into disuse. But in 2002 the Calera Foundation, a non-profit organization with a mission to restore the historic structure, began renovations on the abandoned chapel, culminating in a dedication in May of 2003. Today, the chapel once again serves the surrounding community, open to the public for visits, prayer, retreats, and ceremonies.