Czech-American Historic Places & Monuments. By Miloslav Rechcigl, Jr.

Listing of Historic Sites & Monuments

CALIFORNIA

Guerneville, Sonoma Co.

Korbel Champagne Cellars
Address: 1325 River Rd., Guerneville, CA 95446; Phone: (707) 887-2294; FAX: (707) 869-2506

Korbel Vineyards
History: Established by Frantisek Korbel who in 1850 was in Prague attending a student demonstration against the oppressive Hapsburg regime when he accidentally discharged a pistol (harming no one), which landed him in a Bohemian prison. He remained there until he managed to escape with his visiting grandmother in tow. This is but one episode of colorful family history of the Korbel brothers, who founded what would become the best selling premium champagne in America. After Francis' prison break, he fled to Holland, where he learned the cigar maker's trade. Then it was off to New York, where he continued his immersion in the cigar business. Once in America, his brothers Anton and Joseph joined him and in time, they sailed to California, arriving in San Francisco about l860.

Anton and Joseph found jobs at the Golden State and Miners' Iron Works while Francis became a cigar grader and packer. In this capacity, he soon noted a need for cigar boxes and decided to establish a factory for making them. Thus in 1862, the first enterprise of F. Korbel & Bros. was born. As they became more financially able, the Korbels added a hardwood lumber business to their box factory, acquiring 1300 acres of timberland in the Guerneville area of Sonoma County. The clearing of the area led to experiments in dairy farming and later, the harvesting of grapes.

The Korbel Winery began operation in 1882. The wines were so well received that two years later all of the ranch lands were converted to vineyards. At this time, noted winemaker Frank Hasek came to California from Prague and become the first Korbel champagne-master. Employing methode champenoise, the time-honored French technique of producing champagne, the Korbels quietly experimented with various cuvees. And by the turn of the century, Korbel had become an internationally known and award-winning champagne label. The tradition was kept alive for the next half-century until 1954, when the winery was sold to Adolf Heck. There were two strict conditions of the sale: the winery must continue as a family business, and the buyer must preserve the methode champenoise legacy of the three brothers. Adolf Heck remained faithful to these conditions.

The growth and traditions of the Korbel Winery are carried out today by Adolf's son Gary, who was appointed company president and chairman of the board in the early 1980s. Gary shares his late father's pride and passion for Korbel - and the winery continues to prosper under his guidance, quadrupling in output during his tenure. It appears the Korbel legacy of hard work, entrepreneurship and pioneering spirit is alive and well.

Milestones:
1882 - The three Korbel brothers built their winery in the Russian River Valley, which you can still see today.
1895 - Fermented in the bottle as it still is, Korbel's American Champagne is gaining international acclaim.
1934 - The first case produced after the repeal of Prohibition is sent by the second generation of Korbels to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
1941 - America's preeminent wine journalist, Frank Schoonmaker, writes: "Korbel Cellars is among the most picturesque of California, with great redwood stumps twenty feet across, still standing among the vines...it is the largest producer of good California Champagne." [Nestled among the giant redwoods, it is just as charming today, a great stop on your personal wine country tour.]

Postscript: In 1935, second-generation Tony Korbel knew a bargain when he saw it. He bought Northwestern Pacific's old railway depot for what would become a tasting room. The cost? $5!

Hollywood, Los Angeles Co.

Sokol Hall
Address: 500 N. Western Ave., Hollywood, CA 90004

Korbel, Sonoma Co.

Community
named after Frantisek Korbel

Los Angeles, Los Angeles Co.

America Sokol Hall
Address: 500 North Western Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90004
Location: Sokol Hall is located in Hollywood, at Western and Maple Avenues.
History: The building was bought in 1948 from a rug business; before, it was a church. On the inside wall there is a large mural painted by Jiri Karger. The writer Jan Havlasa (Klecanda) bequeathed his library to Sokol Los Angeles; it is located in a second floor room. Sokol Hall and its adjacent ground are used for weekly exercising.Meetings of other Czech associations are also held in the Sokol Hall.

San Diego, San Diego Co.

Czech and Slovak Cottage “Chaloupka”
Location: House of Pacific Relations, Balboa Park
Exhibits folk art.

San Francisco, San Francisco Co.

Bohemian Synagogue
Existence of Bohemian-Jewish Society in San Francisco is on record .

Bust of Thomas G. Masaryk
Location: Located in the Rose Garden in Golden Gate Park
History: It was erected with support of Sokol and other Czech associations. It was originally exhibited at World Fair on treasure Island - golden Gate International Exposition in 1939.It was sculptured by J. Maratka in 1937.

San Francisco Sokol Hall
History: Sokol Hall was acquired in 1904, after its members collected contributions, mostly modest. Frantisek Korbel - owner of wineries famous for their champagne - contributed $10,000. The Hall was sold in 1960 and a new Hall was provided in San Mateo. After the building
deteriorated, it was sold in 1997.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Washington

The Czech National Chapel
Location: Located in the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC
Dedicated to Our Lady of Hostyn, Moravia and honoring Czech-American Saint John N. Neumann
Dedicated : June 24-26, 1983, preceded by five years of planning, organizing, and fund-raising.

Masaryk Commemorative Plaque
Location: Hotel 2400, now renamed Hotel Envoy, 2400 16th Street
Commemorating T. G. Masaryk’s stay in Washington, DC in 1918. Here the Declaration of Czechoslovak Independence may have been drafted.

US Czech Commemorative Stamps

On July 12, 1943 the United States issued a stamp with the flag of Czechoslovakia. This multi-colored 5 cent stamp, the rate for international first class mail, was part of the series issued as a tribute to the nations occupied by the Axis powers during World War II. It was issued in sheets of 50.

As part of the Champions of Liberty series, the United States issued a set of two stamps honoring T. G. Masaryk on March 7, 1965. The stamps had a value of 4 and 8 cents, to cover domestic and international first class mail, respectively. The 4 cent value was printed in blue in sheets of 70 stamps and the 8 cent in red, blue and gold in sheets of 72. The design was that of a medal of Masaryk's head in profile hung from the torch of Freedom with the text: "T. G. Masaryk, 1st President . Czechoslovakia .Patriot - 1850-1937."

A five cent stamp (domestic first class rate) was issued on February 15, 1965 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Sokol organization. The design was based on the statue of the discus thrower located across from the Department of State in Washington, D. C. The stamp, issued in sheets of 50, was also intended to promote physical fitness.

FLORIDA

Gulfport, Pinellas Co.

Czechoslovak Cultural Center
Address: 1601 49th St., South, Gulfport, FL 33707.

Masaryktown, Hernando Co.

Slovak-Czech Community
Established by Slovak and Czech immigrants and named in honor of T. G. Masaryk.

Miami, Miami-Dade Co.

Mayor Anton J. Cermak Commemorative Plaque
Location: Bayfront Park, Miami
Historical Significance: Plaque has been placed near the site where Mayor Cermak in 1933 was fatally wounded by an assassin’s bullet meant for President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Sokol Miami
Address: 13325 Arch Creek Rd., N. Miami, FL 33181

Winter Park, Orange Co.

Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens
Location: Just blocks from Park Avenue in the heart of Winter Park.
Address: 633 Osceola Avenue, P.O. Box 1691, Winter Park, FL 32790
Phone: (407) 647-6292; FAX: (407) 647-0410
Operated by the Albin Polasek Foundation.
Description: Secluded grounds hold more than 200 sculptures and paintings of internationally known sculptor Albin Polasek. This was his former home, studio and galleries.
Historic significance: Albin Polasek was born at Frenstat, Moravia in the Czech Republic in 1879.

GEORGIA

Lillburn, Gwinnett Co.

St. John Neumann Catholic Church
Named in honor of St. John Neumann, a native of Prachatice, Bohemia.
John was a traveling missionary on the East Coast, then a parish priest in Baltimore. He was consecrated Bishop of Philadelphia in 1852 and was responsible for the building of 100 churches and 80 schools. John Neumann died in Philadelphia at the age of 49 in 1860. He was declared a Saint of the Church in 1977 and his feast day is Jan. 5th.

The St. John Neumann structure is situated atop a hill on Tom Smith Road in Lilburn and the rustic cedar and natural granite stone give the building a sense of eternity. The present location was chosen because of the beauty of the area. The stained glass window in the church is a memorial to Thomas Walsh, son of Betty and Tom Walsh, who died in a traffic accident in 1979. The window, which represents the Trinity, was designed and installed by the monks at the monastery in Conyers. The blending of the rustic cedar wood, natural stone surfaces and earth tone colors was created by Debbie Bennett who did all the interior decorating design work for the church. The fan shaped worship area was designed to create an illusion of closeness. The altar area was designed by Ted Maniatis. The one-of-a-kind Crucifix made from woven fabric and wood, a technique called "fabric art" was done by a local Atlanta artist, Ken Weaver. All of the fabric art techniques were created to blend with the worship area. The altar is in memory of the 8 year old child of parishioners who died of leukemia. The tabernacle was bought used from a church in Chicago from a parishioner.

Savannah, Chatham Co.

Moravian Brethren Settlement
Historical significance: In 1738 Moravian Brethren attempted to establish here their first settlement on the American Continent. Most of the members of the first settlers were born in Moravia or Bohemia.

Wachovia Historical Society placed a memorial tablet on the site which bears the following inscription: “In Memory of the Moravian Colonists in Savannah 1737-1740 who maintained a Mission to the Indians. This Memorial is presented to the City pf Savannah by Wachivia Historical Society

ILLINOIS

Berwyn, Cook Co.

Czech 7th Day Adventist Church
Address: 1228 Euclid Ave., Berwyn, IL 60402; Phone: (708) 749-3144

Church of St. Mary of Celle
Address: 1428 Wesley; Berwyn, IL 60402; Phone: (708) 788-0876

Czechoslovak Baptist Church
Location: 2640 S. Ridgeland Ave.

Moravian Hall
Address: 2140 S. Wesley Ave., Berwyn, IL 60402

Sokol Berwyn Slavsky
Address: 6445 W. 27th Pl., Berwyn, IL 60402
Note: beautiful stage curtain with Libuse and Prague motiff

Sokol Tabor
Address: 1602 S. Clarence Ave., Berwyn, IL 60402

Theater Parthenum
Location: on 22n ST. and Ridgeland Ave., Berwyn
Status: not known

Brookfield, Cook Co.

Czechoslovak Baptist Church

Sokol Brokfield Hall
Adress:3909 So. Prairie Ave., Brookfield, IL 60513

St. Barbara Church
Address: 4008 Prairie, Brookfield, IL 60513; Phone: (708) 485-0589

United Moravian Societies Hall
Address: 2140 S. Wesley Ave., Berwyn, IL 60402
Description: Large collection of national costumes; small display of folk art

Chicago, Cook Co.

Bohemian National Cemetery, Chicago
Address: 5255 North Pulaski, Chicago, Illinois ; Phone: 773-539-8442
Location: on Chicago’s North side at Foster and Pulaski Avenues
History: Outrage led to establishing Bohemian cemetery, when a woman, Marie Silhanek, died without making a final confession. The pastor of St. James Church on DeKoven refused her burial in many of the Catholic cemeteries. Outrage in the Bohemian communities led their 30,000 members to organize a cemetery that would not be under any church's control. So, on September 2, 1977, 4,000 people took a special train to Irving Park and marched from there to Pulaski and Foster for the dedication of Bohemian National Cemetery. The cemetery had its first burial on August 6th, 1877, a baby named N. Brada. Originally inside the gate, the child has been moved to a safer location deeper within the cemetery.
Description: Bohemian National Cemetery contains one of the city's finest collections of funerary art. It features a spectacular chapel and columbarium building, as well as many larger-than-life sculptures. Nowhere else can be seen a greater number of statues of soldiers, many having fought and died in World War I and the Spanish-American War. Another extraordinary feature of Bohemian National Cemetery is the plantings over certain graves. Rectangular and crescent designs are common, with flowers of different colors carefully placed. The great majority of persons buried here are of Czech descent, though the cemetery will now accept burials of any nationality. Chicago's most prominent Bohemian citizen, Mayor Anton Cermak, is entombed here.

Bohemian Synagogue
In Chicago, reference is made to the congregation B’nai Abraham, established in 1870.
The Bohemian Jews constituted a third and a distinct group.They were too far advanced in their religious views to join with the orthodox group, and too conservative for Reform Judaism. Hence they formed a congregation of their own and erected a house of worship on the corner of Brown and Henry Street. Rabbi Abraham R. Levy administered to their spiritual needs. The congregation B’nai Abraham (in 1921 combined with zion Congregation as the Washington Boulevard Temple) seems o have grown out of a Minyan of Bohemian Jews.

CZECH CHURCHES (CATHOLIC)

St. Wenceslaus Church
Location: NE corner Dekoven and Desplaines St.
History: Organized Aug. 14, 1863; closed 1955 and merged with Holy Guardian Angel (Cabrini St.); Last Mass July 10, 1955; church razed

St. John Nepomucene Church
Address: 2953 S. Lowe Ave. Chicago, IL 60616 312-225-5779)
History: Organized 1871; closed June 30, 1990. Was started Dec. 3, 1871 at the NW corner of 25th and Portland (now Princeton) Ave

Church of St. Procopius
Address: 1641 S. Allport St, Chicago, IL 60608; Phone: 312-226-7887
History: Organized 1875; April 16, 1876 moved the former Methodist Church from 19th and Halsted St. to the present day site at 18th and Allport St. Is now a mission church to the Hispanic Community and run by the Jesuits. The Benedictines still run the St. Procopius (Illinois Benedictine) Abbey in Lisle, IL.

St. Procopius Abbey
History: In 1885, a group of monks of St. Vincent's formed a new monastic community in Chicago in order to pray and work among the Czech and Slovak immigrants so numerous in the American Midwest. The monks took over the direction of a parish named in honor of St. Procopius, and the community selected this saint as the patron of their new monastic house. Known for his great charity, Procopius founded a monastery in Bohemia during the eleventh century and after his death became the first formally canonized saint of Czechoslovakia. The newly-established Benedictine community of St. Procopius decided over the next decades to found a high school, college, and seminary, and to operate a press.

Church of St. Vitus
Address: 1818 S. Paulina St., Chicago, IL 60608; Phone: 312-226-0380
History: Organized 1888; closed June 30, 1990. In 1888 worshiped in the former St. Pius Church at the corner of Van Horn (now 18th Pl.) and Paulina St.

Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel
Address: 916 N. Western Ave., Chicago, IL 60622; Phone: (312) 486-1086
History: Organized 1889; closed 1989; Oct 6, 1889 church at Cornelia Ave. (now Walton St).

Church of St. Cyril and Methodius
Address: 5009 S. Hermitage Ave., Chicago, IL 60609; Phone: (312) 778-4044
History: Organized 1891; closed June 30, 1990; Dec 20, 1891 worshiped in St. Rose of Lima Church. April 1892-Aug 1892 worshiped in St. Joseph at 48th and Hermitage. Oct 9, 1892 dedicated a new church.

St. Ludmila Church
Address: 2408 S. Albany Ave., Chicago, IL 60623; Phone: 312-521-1808
History: Organized 1891; consolidated June 30, 1990 and merged with St.Casimir (Whipple St.) and was renamed Our Lady of Tepeyac (2226 S. Whipple St.). Sept. 20, 1891 dedicated a new church.

Church of Our Lady of Lourdes
Address: 1444 S. Keeler Ave., Chicago, IL 60623; Phone: (312) 762-5700
History: Organized 1892. Oct. 23, 1892 church at 15th and Keeler Ave. In 1969 St. Finbarr (14th St.) merged with Our Lady of Lourdes.

Church of Blessed Agnes or St. Agnes of Bohemia
Address: 2651 S. Central Park Ave.,Chicago, IL 60629; Phone: (312)522-0142
History: Organized February 1904. On June 5, 1904 dedicated the church. Jan 1, 1990 Blessed Agnes was renamed St. Agnes of Bohemia.

St. Joseph Church
Address: 730 W. 17th Pl., Chicago, IL.
History: Organized 1906; closed Jan. 1968. 1906 founded as a mission of St. Procopius (18th and Allport). 1906 (approx.) church at 730 W. 17th pl. Jan. 1968 merged with Providence of God Church, 18th and Union Ave.

CZECH CHURCHES (PROTESTANT)

Bethlehem Congregational Church
Location: on Loomis St. , near 19th St.

Bohemian Brethren Methodist Church
Location: corner of Fisk St. and 19th Pl.

Czech Baptist Church
Location: 1609 So. Throop St.

Czech Brethren Church, the Hubbard Memorial Presbyterian Church

Czech Reformed Church
Location: Ashland Ave. and Laflin St.

Czech Presbyterian Church
Location: Lawndale

Czechoslovak Baptist Church
Location: Rockwell Ave. and 59th St.
Emanuel Church
Location: Trumbull Ave, near 27th St.

First Czech Brethren Methodist Church
Location: 1109 Fisk St

John Hus Methodist Church
Location: 24th St. and Sawyer Ave.

CZECH HALLS

Bohemian American Hall
18th Street

Ceska Beseda - Bohemia Club
Location: 3659 Douglas Boulevard, Chicago
Status: not known

Cesko-Slovanska Americka Sin
Location: 1436 W. 18th ST.
Status: not known

Thalia Hall
18th Street

CZECH SOKOL HALLS

Sokol Chicago
Location: 2345 S. Kedzie Ave.

Sokol Fuegner
Location: 10756 Greenbay Ave.

Sokol Havlicek-Tyrs Hal
Location: Lawndale Ave. near 26th St.

Sokol Pokrok
Location: 47th St. and Winchester Ave.

Sokol "Slovanska Lipa"
Location: 515 Koven St.

Sokol Tabor
Location: 1300 S. 41st Ave.

CZECH SCHOOLS

F. B. Zdrubek School
Location: in Irving Park

Jan Neruda School
Location: 2659 S. Karlov Ave.
Building sold

Frank Jirka School
Location: 17th and Laflin St.

Ladimir Klacel School
Location: corner of Leavit and 19th Street

Komensky Public School

Palacky School
Location: 15 th St. and 41st Ave.
Status: not known

Vojta Naprstek School
Location: Homan Ave near 26th Street
Built: in 1911

OTHER BUILDINGS

CSA Heritage Museum

C.S.P.S. Building
Location: 1126 W. 18th St.
Status: not known

C.S.P.S. Building
Location: corner of 48th St. and Honore Ave.

Czech Settlement Building
Location: Centre Ave. between18th and 19th Sts.

Dearborm Station
Architect: Cyrus Eidlitz of Bohemian ancestry

Home of "Svornost"
Location: Clinton & 12th St. or 2520 S. Pulaski.
Note: Most influential Czech newspaper in Chicago. Started in 1875.

Klas Restaurant

St. Procopius School Building
Note: The original building is being taken down. As noted in the book, Czech Benedictines in America, an historic stone from Sazava, Bohemia, is embedded in the wall.

St. Procopius Press Building
Location: 698 S. Allport St. (old address).

CZECH MONUMENTS

Adolph J. Sabath Monument
Location: Forest Home Cemetery
Historical significance: Adolph J. Sabath, an immigrant from Bohemia, worked his way through law school, held several city government positions, and was then elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1906. Sabath was elected to a total of twenty-three consecutive terms, the second-longest continuous service of any congressman.

Anton J. Cermak Monument
Location: Bohemian National Cemetery
Historical significance:Anton J. Cermak was born in 1873 in Kladno, a town near Prague, Czechoslovakia. His father was a coal miner and brought the family to America in 1874. They lived in Braidwood, Illinois which was a mining town. He went to Elementary School for just three years. After that, he worked long hours in the dirty coal mines. He earned $1.50 a day.When he was 19, in 1892, Anton Cermak started his own hauling business in Chicago. He hauled wood, coal, or anything. By 1902, Anton Cermak was an Illinois State Representative. He held many more positions over the next 29 years. Then, in 1931, he was elected mayor of Chicago. In February of 1933, Mayor Cermak traveled to Miami, Florida to meet with President-elect Franklin Roosevelt. They arrived on February 15th to be in a parade. The parade car moved slowly down the street as President-elect Roosevelt and Mayor Cermak smiled and waved. The car stopped and President-elect Roosevelt gave a speech while sitting on the back of the car. A man named Guiseppe Zangara pushed through the crowd. He fired five shots at the President-elect. The bullets hit four people and Mayor Cermak. The mayor fell out of the car and called out "The President, get him away!" But Roosevelt ordered his car to stop and that Mayor Cermak be put in with him. President-elect Roosevelt held Mayor Cermak all the way to the hospital. Mayor Anton J. Cermak died three weeks later, on March 8, 1933. His body was taken back to Chicago and buried in the Bohemian National Cemetery.Guiseppe Zangara was executed in the electric chair on March 21, 1933. That was only 13 days after Mayor Cermak died.

Karel Havlicek Statue
Location: near Adler Planetarium, on the Chicago’s lake front

Ladislav Klacel Monument
Location: Bohemian National Cemetery

Masaryk Memorial Monument
Location: University of Chicago
By Czech sculptor Albin Polasek
Historical significance: The Masaryk Memorial Monument's bronze horseman represents the knights of Bohemian legend who stood guard at the Blanik Mountain. The horseman also recalls a real-life defender of his country: Thomas Garrigue Masaryk (1850-1937), the philosopher turned political leader who was Czechoslovakia's first president. Whether as statesman or as professor, Masaryk never shied away from hard issues; as a philosopher, his first major work was entitled Der Selbstmord als sociale Massenerscheinung der modernen Civilisation (suicide as a mass phenomenon of modern civilization). T. G. Masaryk’s name has also a special significance to the University of Chicago. He taught here in 1903 and 1908 and was honored here during his triumphant visit in Chicago in 1918

“Spirit of Music” Statue by Albin Polasek
Location: On Michigan Avenue (Grant Park), across from Blackistone Hotel, next to Chicago Art Institute where Albin Polasek was in charge of the Sculpture department
Description: Bronze Statue by Albin Polasek, Dedicated to the Chicago Symphony.

OTHER CZECH CHICAGO SITES

Czech California
Location between Rockwell Ave. and Trumbull along 26th St.

Pilsen
Location: between Morgan St. and Western ave. along W 18th St.
History: Settled following the 1871 Chicago fire. The relocation of the Bohemian community across the south branch of the Chicago river became known as “Pilsen” named after the second largest city in Bohemia. Poles moved into this area in the early twentieth
century. Mexican families moved into Pilsen in the 1950s. .

Crawford
Location: along Crawford Ave.

Lawndale
Location: between Trumbull Ave. and Crawford Ave.

New Tabor (or Merigold)
Location: northern part of Crawford up to W. 12th St.

Town of Lake
Location: between 39th St. and 63rd St. along Honore St.

Cicero, Cook Co.

Church of Our Lady of the Mount
Address: 2414 S. 61st Ave., Cicero, IL 60650; Phone: (708) 652-2791 or 656-1050
Father Vit (the old convent across the street)
Holds Czech Mass on Saturday evenings at 6:30 p.m.

Church of Mary Queen of Heaven
Address: 5300 24th St., Cicero, IL 60650; Phone: 708-863-6608

Karel Jonas Building
Location: on 25th St., Cicero
Status: not known

T. G. Masaryk School
Address: 5701 W. 22nd Place, Cicero, IL 60804.
Note: Czech & Slovak American Genealogy Society of Illinois library located in here

Darien, DuPage Co.

Sokol Chicagoland
Address: 133 Plainfield Rd., Darien, IL 60559

Edwardsville, Madison Co.

Czech Catholic Cemetery
Location: Because of its location on Buck Road, the cemetery was known as Buck Road Cemetery. Now Route 162.

Lidice, Will Co.
Location: near Crest Hill

Lisle, DuPage Co.

St. Joseph's Orphanage Building
(now Benet Academy)

St. Procopius Abbey
History: After 1901, the Czech St. Procopius monks of Chicago began operating schools in Lisle, 30 miles southwest of Chicago, where the monks had purchased some farmland. In 1914, the Abbey too was transferred to Lisle. The press remained in Chicago until 1975 when it ceased operation. Blessed by many vocations, St. Procopius Abbey was able to found two new monastic communities: St. Andrew's Abbey in Cleveland, Ohio, and Holy Trinity Priory in Butler, Pennsylvania. As the need for pastoral work among Slavic-language immigrants gradually diminished, the monks directed their efforts even more to educational work. The growth of the schools eventually led the monks to decide upon the creation of a separate monastic complex. They believed that a new church and monastery would give them a stronger Benedictine identity, improve the contemplative character of their lives, and help them better serve the students and public of the mushrooming suburbs.

Planning for the church and monastery began in 1959, and construction commenced nine years later. In June 1970, the monks moved into their first real home. The new Abbey was cited by the American Institute of Architects as one of the most outstanding buildings in the United States for 1973. The Abbey schools, formerly St. Procopius Academy and St. Procopius College, now called Benet Academy and Benedictine University, have a combined enrollment of some 4,000 students. While the name Benet is an English form of Benedict, the university's name links it with the monastic community's Benedictine heritage. Many of the monks are engaged as faculty or staff members at one of these two coeducational institutions. Several monks are assigned to parishes in Illinois and Wisconsin, and some serve the Church as hospital chaplains, missionaries in the Abbey's Taiwan priory, or in other capacities.

St. Procopius College
Renamed to St. Benedictine College

Lyons, Cook Co.

St. Hugh's Church
Address: 7939 43rd St., Lyons, IL 60534; Phone: (708) 447-3108

Stickney, Cook Co.

Sokol Stickney Hall
Address: 4131 Home Ave., Stickney, IL 60402

IOWA

Cedar Rapids, Linn Co.

Czech Community
The first Czech immigrants began settling here as early as in 1852.

Bridge of Lions
Constructed in 1989 to replace the bridge built in 1910. Decorated with antique-style lights and guarded by 7 concrete lions - symbols of the Czech people.

C.S.P.S. Hall
Location: 3rd St. and 11th Avenue SE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52403
Three story brick building built in 1891 to house the offices and meeting rooms of the Cesko-Slovanska Podporujici Spolek organization. It was built in 1891. It became the center of Czech public life.

Czech Village
Location: Near-downtown ethnic shopping area in Cedar Rapids, IA
Founded: In the 70s by Village businesses and Czech groups and the preservation efforts continue to date. A bandstand was erected in the town square area, convenient parking areas built which don’t detract from the Village’s atmosphere and an association government formed to represent the businesses, history and Czech people., The original purpose and character of the village remains untouched.
Description: The Czech Village is a charming mixture of shops, businesses, and people that is the ethnic history of the area. The village preserves an historical section in a growing, fast moving city. In this locality, irreplaceable historic structures are preserved as a part of the fabric of present day life and work. Woven into the village is a wealth of information on the old world backgrounds and Czech influence, decorative details and personal histories. At the west end of the Bridge of Lions in the Czech Village is located the National Czech & Slovak Museum and Library. With its outstanding collection of national costumes, fully restored immigrant home, demonstrations of old World arts and crafts, and celebrations of ethnic customs and traditions , the museum serves to bridge the gap between the Czechoslovak homeland and the culture of the Czechoslovak immigrants in America.

National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library
Location: 30 - 16th Avenue SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404.
Note: With a stately clock tower standing proud against the Iowa sky, the Museum is a ftting tribute to a rich heritage kept alive through centuries of hardships and remarkable achievements. Officially dedicated in 1995 by President Bill Clinton, Vaclav Havel and Michal Kovac.
Features a permeant exhibit, “Homelands: The Story of the Czech and Slovak People,” Heritage Hall, Library and Museum Gift Shop.

Czech National Cemetery
Location: Corner of 2200 “C” street and Hawthorne Dr. SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404
Note: Established in 1895 as the Bohemian National Cemetery for use by people of Czech descent.

Czech Reformed Church
Location: 1510 2nd Street SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404
Note: Congregation formed in 1909 by members of the Ely, IA church who moved to Cedar Rapids.

“Damska Matice Skolska” Building
Location: 927 Second St. SE , Cedar Rapids, IA 52403
History: Dates back to 1870. The present three-story building was actually built around 1894.
The first building in the US of its kind, which served exclusively as a Czech school (ca 1901).
.Note: The building is now in commercial use.

First Reformed Church
Location: 351 8th Avenue SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404
Note: First Reformed Church and Czech Reformed Church congregations combined to form the current Eden United Church.

Masaryk Park
Location: in southeast Cedar Rapids
Historical significance: Named after Thomas Masaryk, Czechoslovakia's first president

Jan Hus Memorial Presbyterian Church
Location: 633 7th Avenue SE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52403
Note: Congregation started in 1889 as the Czech Reformed church to serve the Czech Presbyterian communities.Converted to an apartment house.

Jan Hus Methodist Episcopal Church
Location: 180-14th Avenue SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404
Note: built to serve the west side Czech Methodist community.

Little Bohemia
Location: A tavern in southeast Cedar Rapids, just beyond the Bridge of Lines.
Note: It was built in 1883. The building was owned by Vaclav Lessinger and was used as a tailor shop and restaurant.
The building is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Masaryk Park
Location: East end of the Bridge of Lions, Cedar Rapids, IA 52403
Small park, named for Thomas G. Masaryk, first president of the Czechoslovak Republic.

Sinclair Meat Packing Company
Contains buildings which once housed the neat packing plant. The plant was a major employer of Czech immigrants and Mr. Sinclair purportedly even solicited immigrants to work there.

Sokol Cedar Rapids Hall
Address: 417 3rd St., S.E., Cedar Rapids, 52401
Note: Erected in 1908 to house Sokol Gymnastics Organization. Three stories, with gym, dressing rooms, club rooms and offices.

Sokol Park
Location: Located south of the 16th Avenue SW, along the west bank of the Cedar River.
Note: Small park dedicated to the Sokol organization

St. John’s Cemetery
Location: 17th and 22n Streets and 12th Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52403
Note: Established in 1870. Purchased by St. Wenceslaus parish in 1881 for Czech Catholic burials.

St. Ludmila’s Catholic Parish
Location:215-21st Avenue SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404
Note: Consists of church, built in 1926, grade school, built in 1915, and heavily modified since, rectory and convent.Incorporated 1915 as a mission of St. Wenceslaus parish to serve Czech Catholics in southwest Cedar Rapids.

St. Wenceslaus Church
Location: at 1224 Fifth St. SE, Cedar Rapids, IA
Note: St. Wenceslaus was founded as Czech National Parish in 1874. The present church was built in 1904, replacing the original church. The parish also include the high school, opened in 1921, and the rectory. Schools are closed, buildings are still in use.
St. Wenceslaus, with a dozen stained glass windows dating to 1910 (one was crafted in Czechoslovakia, another in England) and ceiling/wall paintings of Czech shrines, saints and medallions, is open for tours Tuesday through Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. A Czech church service is held at St. Wenceslaus at 4 p.m. Saturday.

St. Wenceslaus Historic District
Includes the block of houses across from St. Wenceslaus Church

Z.C.B.J. Hall
Location: South east of 3rd St. and 12th Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52403
Three-story brick building built in 1908 to house the Zapadni Cesko-bratrska Jednota organization

Z.C.B.J. Park

Ely, Linn Co.

Czech Protestant Church

Ft. Dodge

Z.C.B.J. Hall

Iowa City, Johnson Co.

Czech Community
The first Czech to come to iowa city in 1865. A year later, fleeing political oppression before and after the Austro-Prussian war, large numbers of Czechs came to Iowa City area. By 1890's , 20 percent of Iowa City’s population was of Czech descent.

“Black Angel”
Location: Oakland Cemetery, 100 Brown Street, Iowa City, IA 52245
Note: Monument to a local Czech woman. Because of black oxidation, the “Black angel” has achieved the status of local legend.

C.S.P.S. Hall
Location: 524 North Johnson Street, Iowa City, IA 52245
Note: Brick commercial structure located near Goosetown, the Czech neighborhood of eastern Iowa City. Building was the lodge hall; for the C.S.P.S. Lodge P. J. Safarik.

Goosetown Neighborhood
Location: Eastern Iowa City
Note: Historic Czech neighborhood in Iowa City, IA

St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church and Rectory
Location: 630 E. Davenport St., Iowa City, IA 52245 (Church); 623 E. Fairchild St., Iowa City, IA 52245 (Rectory)
Note: Church and rectory established to serve the spiritual needs of “Bohemian” Roman Catholics in the “Goosetown” neighborhood of Iowa City. It was built in 1893 and expanded in 1921.

Protivin, Howard Co.

Czech Community
History: In June of 1878, Frank Chyle Jr. plotted a section of New Oregon Township in Howard County as a stop on the Davenport and St. Paul Railroad. Unfortunately, the railroad was never completed, but Protivin prospered. In July of 1894, one hundred inhabitants approved the incorporation of Protivin, Iowa, named after Protivin, Bohemia, the birthplace of Frank Chyle's wife.
The Czech heritage is celebrated by Holy Trinity Parish and the community each year on the third weekend in August. "Czech Days" provides its guests with chicken noodle soup, kolaches, rohlickys, bratwurst and beer. Dancing to polka bands, singing by the Czech Choir, playing in volleyball and softball tournaments or watching a Czech cultural demonstration keeps visitors entertained for a fun filled weekend.

Holy Trinity Catholic Church
Note: Whether entering the town on B-16 or V-58, the eyes of a traveler immediately focus on the copper steeple of this church. The church, while visually the center of town, is also the social and religious center of this predominately Czech community.

Holy Trinity Cemetery
Tombstones in the cemetery beare family names that remind the visitor of the strong Czech heritage. Pecinovsky, Zahasky, Fencl, Dostal, Prochaska, Hruska, Chyle, Samec, Bouska, Moudry, Mrachek, Pechota, Strnad, Vrba, Infeld, Klimesh, Lukes, Koshatka, Svoboda, Polashek are still visible on store fronts and mailboxes today.

Solon, Johnson Co.

St. Peter and Paul’s Catholic Church
Location: 120th Street and Taft avenue NE, Solon, IA 522333.
Note: Founded in 1863 to serve the Czech settlers in Czech Township. Original stone church built 1863-1866, replaced by current church. No longer used as a parish church.

Spillville, Howard Co.

Czech Community
History: A predominately Czech village, came into existence in 1854 when Joseph Joseph Spielman located here, built a sawmill. Many of those who followed were from Bohemia, a few from Switzerland. They brought with them traditions of their fatherland which are retained in part to this day, giving this picturesque inland village a happy combination of Old world atmosphere and modern progress. The Old World atmosphere is found in the hospitality that radiates from these homes and their surroundings of neatly kept lawns and old fashioned gardens. Another old world feature is the public square around which is built the business section of the town.

The Bily (Brothers) Clocks/Antonin Dvorak Museum
Address: P. O. Box 258, Spillville, IA 52168; Phone: (319) 562-3569
Location: Located in the 1893 summer home of Czech musician and composer Antonin Dvorak.
Holdings: Over 20 ornate, wood clocks crafted by the Bily brothers are on display, including the Apostle clock, from which the 12 apostles parade every hour. The clock was finished in 1916 and later remodeled to include a cathedral. The collection also features models of the world's smallest church in nearby Festina and the Little Brown Church in Nashua.
Historical significance: While spending the summer of 1893 in the Winneshiek County town, Dvorak composed ''American Quartette,'' found inspiration for ''Humoresque,'' and did final corrections on his famous ''New World Symphony,'' which debuted the following winter in New York City, according to museum literature.

St. Wenceslaus School and Chihak Hall
Established: Erected in 1853. School was operated as an independent parish school until 1979 when it consolidated with Calmar and Festina.

Dvorak Memorial
Location: in Riverside Park
Historical significance: Commemorating the stay of Antonin Dvorak in Spillville during the summer of 1893.

St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church
History: St. Wenceslaus congregation was formed in the 1850s. On May 16, 1860, the cornerstone of the church building was laid, and on the following September 28- St. Wenceslaus Day - the first services were held. During 1869 and 1870 additions consisting of a tower, a sanctuary and two wings were built, and in 1870 a school building was constructed. In 1876 a pipe organ was installed, the first one in the county, and is still occasionally used.
Historical significance: The Czech composer Antonin Dvorak played the organ daily at mass during his stay in Spillville in1893.

St. Wenceslaus Cemetery
Location: Lays to the south, east and north of the St. Wenceslaus Church. The older section is to the south and east.
Historical significance: Many of the graves of the early settlers in those sections have metal markers.These were molded locally by Charles Andera Sr.,a native craftsman who also built the alters in the church. The skull and cross bones on the bottom of these ,markers is church art for “they thought about their end while they were with us,” “L.P.” after a year is Czech for “A.D”, year of the Lord. Joseph and Frank Bily, clock carvers, are buried north of the church.

St. Wenceslaus Convent
History: Built in 1870 as the original parochial school structure. There was one large classroom with the rest used as living quarters for John J. Kovarik, teacher, and his family. Later when the school was taught by nuns, those rooms served as their living quarters and sleeping rooms for students who boarded with the nuns.

Toledo, Tama Co.

Bohemian Cabin

An authentic Bohemian log cabin, recently relocated from a family farm, is on display at the Tama County Historical Society grounds in Toledo.

Vining, Tama Co.

CSA Lodge Hall
Address: Vining, IA 52215

KANSAS

Atwood, Rawlins Co.

SS. Cyril and Methodius Church

Caldwell, Sumner Co.

Z.C.B.J. Hall

Sokol Hall
Address: Caldwell, KS 67022

Jennings, Decatur Co.

Czech Community
Czech Memorial Museum
Established :By the Heritage Associates of Jennings, Inc. in 1970.
History: The building was the old Methodist Church. It was donated by the Hays Conference of the Methodist Church. The building was gutted and the south addition and vestibule were taken away. After moving what was left of the building, much volunteer work was put into restoring the building. Funds were received from donations, memorials, the Economic Development Commission and the Decatur Improvement Commission.
Description: There are over 1000 catalogued and labeled items on display, including a pedal-powered grindstone shown here. These items were donated by members of the community.

Z.C.B.J. Hall

Munden, Republic Co.

Z.C.B.J. Hall

New Tabor, Republic Co.

St. George’s Church

Olmitz, Barton Co.

St. Anna Church

Pilsen, Marion Co.

Czech Community
Location: Pilsen is located in northern Marion County and the only access is by a county road.
History: Founded: 1874 Pilsen was settled by Czechs and is named for the city of Plzen in Bohemia in the Czech Republic, famous for its beer (among other things).

The St. John Nepomucene Catholic Church
Location: is literally and figuratively the heart of the town and its gleaming spire can be seen for many miles around.
Phone: (316) 945-5749

Wilson, Ellsworth Co.

Czech Community
Wilson is known as “Czech Capital of Kansas”

Czech "House of Memories" Museum
History: In 1969 Governor John Carlin dedicated the "House of Memories" during a festival. This is a building that was remodeled into a museum used to house memorabilia from the early day "Wilson". Wilson in 1967 was granted the Charter to be called "The Czech Capital of Kansas" and since the museum was already started in the Czech Opera House, a restoration committee increased the museum from one to five rooms.
Holdings: Not only are Czech items on display, but also brought to life are memories of the early day settlers of other nationalities, German, French, English, Dutch, Italian and others. As you enter the museum, there usually is some type of polka or lively music softly playing. There on the walls begins a history of old pictures, depicting the beginning of Wilson. Pictures of the first businesses, stagecoach station, railroad station, grocery stores, dry goods, hotels, banks, doctor offices, hardware and implement stores, livery stables, flour mills, granary, and water towers. Also on display are hand carved items of native stone, pencil holders, name plates, souvenirs from the Czech Republic, hand painted eggs, handmade dolls and toys, and more. There is a beautiful mannequin to greet your eyes that is clothed in an authentic "Kroje" costume.
The House of Memories is just that. It helps us to educate, and cultivate the mind.

Midland Hotel
The Midland Hotel is located in the heart of downtown Wilson. Although not in use today, the hotel remains a historic landmark for Wilson. In its prime, the Midland Hotel served as the site for the movie "Paper Moon" which features father/daughter combination Ryan and Tatum O'Neil.

St. Wenceslaus Church

Vopat Homestead
While it is unique in many ways, the history of the Vopat Homestead is the history of the Czech Heritage in Ellsworth County. At a time when many of the original homes were being torn down to avoid taxes, the Vopat Homestead survived because it stayed in the family through four generations. The original settler was Jakub Vopat with his wife Barbora. Next came their son Frank and wife Katherine. Currently living in the home is Adolph and Lila Vopat. While son Thomas does not live on the property, he actively participates in the running of the ranch.

The original two room building was actually two homesteads, established by the Vopat and Kepka families in 1876. Each side consisted of 80 adjacent acres and the 2 room home was built entirely of rock harvested from the land. Each Homestead was one room sharing a common entry and with a common wall that was built right on the dividing line between the two tracts. In 1900 the Vopat Family bought the Kepka Homestead, tore down the Kepka room and reused the rock to build a 2 story addition. An original window in the Vopat room was replaced with an entry door.The original room was built of limestone "Homestead Style" - that is using rocks of different sizes with a dirt fill. The rock for subsequent additions was of more precise size and concrete became the preferred fill.In 1922 the gables were straightened out by Adolph's parents and the wooden part was added. In 1975 Adolph and Lila Vopat converted 3 small rooms into 1 room which is the only "modern" room as it has on/off switches for the lights instead of pull chains.All the original furniture is still being used, and all the original farm equipment is on display.

The Homestead Charter was signed by Chester Arthur in 1882 and now hangs in the original room. This room now serves as a formal dining room and is furnished with 1870 German furniture which was brought over from Berlin in 1936 when Hitler came into power.
In 1986 the Vopat Homestead received the Governors Preservation Award.
While no public tours are offered, private tours are offered, are available by appointment. Adolph Vopat enjoys giving tours to 18-22 year old college students.

Wilson Czech Opera House
Address: 415 - 27th St., Wilson, KS 62490
History: Built in 1901, the Wilson Czech Opera House stands in the heart of Wilson. It formerly served as a social hall for the community, and is complete with dining area, ballroom, and stage. A gymnasium was later added to support Sokol Lodge gymnastics. The Czech Opera House is now used as the Meeting Hall for the Czech Lodge where the lodge hangings bedeck the walls. A handful of Wilson inhabitants have created a House of Memories Museum, located in the basement and gymnasium of the Opera House, which honors early American settlers and Wilson’s heritage and history. In the museum is a Lovely lady with parasol made of lovely Bobbin Lace, “palickovani.” Also, a beautiful handmade Kroje (Czech costume) and famous painted eggs. The side-sod-buster plow that broke the ground to bring the first railroad into Kansas in 1865 is on display along with hand carvings, handmade quilts, and other Czech items. The upstairs ballroom and stage plays host for festivals, magic shows, queen pageants, junior-senior proms, wedding celebrations, dances, Christmas programs and dinner theaters. The gymnasium and dining area are used to serve authentic Czech meals for festivals and tours.
Built in 1901, the Wilson Czech Opera House stands in the heart of Wilson. It formerly served as a social hall for the community, and is complete with dining area, ballroom, and stage. A gymnasium was later added to support Sokol Lodge Gymnastics. The Czech Opera House is now used as the Meeting Hall for the Czech Lodge where the lodge hangings bedeck the walls. A handful of Wilson inhabitants have created a “House of Memories” Museum, located in the basement and gymnasium of the Opera House, which honors early American settlers and Wilson’s heritage and history. In the museum is a Lovely lady with parasol made of lovely Bobbin Lace, “palickovani.” Also, a beautiful handmade Kroje (Czech costume) and famous painted eggs. The side-sod-buster plow that broke the ground to bring the first railroad into Kansas in 1865 is on display along with hand carvings, handmade quilts, and other Czech items. The upstairs ballroom and stage plays, host for festivals, magic shows, queen pageants, junior-senior proms, wedding celebrations, dances, Christmas programs and dinner theaters. The gymnasium and dining area are used to serve authentic Czech meals for festivals and tours.

KENTUCKY

Louisville, Jefferson Co.

Louis D Brandeis School of Law, University of Louisville
Note: Named in honor of US Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, whose parents immigrated to the US from Prague, Bohemia

LOUISIANA

Czechs in Louisiana

Settled just outside of Pineville in the early twentieth century, the twin towns of Libuse and Kolin are the center for the strongest Czech communities in Louisiana. The Louisiana Czechs, as they call themselves, hold an annual community festival in one of two original community halls built when the towns were first settled. Some of the elder members of the communities retain the Czech language, and there are strong textile craft traditions and foodways, as well as organizations to keep viable the singing and dancing traditions.

Kolin, Rapides Co.

Czech National Cemetery (Cesky - Narodni hrbitov )
Established : The cemetery established in 1915 by the first colonist of Kolin. It has been used by the members of the Czech community from that time until present.
Description: The one and a half acres fenced in with cedar trees and myrtle gives it scenic beauty. Many of the earliest graves are headed with markers inscribed in the Czech language. There is a circle in the center dedicated to the veterans of World War I. In early days decoration day was an annual event with the members of community gathering for speeches and songs at which time the departed were recognized.

Welcek Home
Located on the Old Marksville Highway (Highway 107) at the intersection of Denny Road
Built in 1921, it is one of the earlier homes of the Czech community and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The home and out buildings especially the two barns, are representative of the early Czech farming community. The barns were built earlier and used as dicker for Mr. Francis Welcek who then built the house He was a leader of the community and an accomplished agronomist. The home was eventually purchased by William and Margaret Ortigo and placed on the Historic Register in 1986. The homestead has been included on the tour of the the Czech community during the Annual Czech Heritage Days. The Kolin Historical Marker is found at this location.
Physical Condition - Home is excellent; the barns are aged and fragile.

WFLA Lodge Kolin No. 260 Hall
Located: The building is located on B Miller Road about one-half mile from intersection with the Old Marksville Highway Hwy 107)
History: The present building was built in the early 1950's on property donated by Marie Wittera Brousek to the Western Fraternal Life Association in 1949. The building is a wood frame hall with stage on one end and kitchen and pantries on the opposite end. Ceiling fans and attic fan are used in the summer. Gas space heaters are used for heat in winter.
Managed: by the officers and members of the WFLA Lodge
Historical Significance: This site was the center of the proposed Kolin township established in
1944. The first hotel built to accommodate the Bohemian colonist was located at this site and
later became the first school until a school building was erected. The Kolin Community held all
its social functions and meetings in this first hotel and hall and still does today in the hall that was
built to replace the former hall that was damaged by storm. The property was lost in a sheriff's
sale when the Kolin Township did not materialize as the colonist resided on Their huts. In the
1940's the property was bought by Marie Brousek, the daughter of one of the early leaders of
the Kolin Colony and donated to the Lodge for its members to have and preserve for meetings and other social functions.
Physical Condition - Very good

Libuse, Rapides Co.

Libuse Czech Cemetery
Location: Located: on the Philadelphia Road across from the Philadelphia Baptist Church.
History: This is the second and current cemetery of the Czech colonist of the Libuse area The first cemetery is located in the Lake Hills subdivision. The new location became necessary as it was difficult to access the first site during wet seasons. Established in 1922 ~ two acres of land donated by Joseph Goldstein and later expanded by additional land donated by descendants of the family
Description: The first cemetery has been documented and information is in La Czech Heritage Association Archives. It is fenced in and borders The Philadelphia Baptist Church Cemetery. A unique characteristic of this cemetery is that the first graves are aligned in rows with burials next to each other in order of date of death. Only later were family plots established.
Managed: by the Libuse Community
Historical Significance: Contains vital statistics of early members of Czech community
Physical Condition - excellent

Lihuse Community Hall
Location: Located at end of Industrial Street, which is at the intersection of Highway 28 East across from the former Tuma Store and Post Office.
History: Built in 1931 on the site of Komensky School and first community hall It is a wood frame building built in style of old entertainment hall with stage and dance floor. Indoor plumbing provide for sink in kitchen area and restroom in sage dressing area A wood-burning stove as well as electrical wall heaters provide heat in winter. In summer AC window units have recently augmented the window fans. The structure has a unique design representative of the early Czech presence.
Managed : by the Libuse Czech Community Hall Association
Historical Significance - The heart of the Czech community centers around activities in the hall.
It is the home of the LA Czech Heritage Festival. The Libuse Historical marker is located at this
site.
Physical Condition - Good. Repairs are made when necessary It is hoped that the hall be placed
on the National Register of Historic Places in the near future.

MARYLAND

Annapolis, Anne Arundel Co.

Town Hall
built in the early 18th century by Augustine Herman’s son

Baltimore, Baltimore, Co.

Bohemian Hall

Bohemian National Cemetery
Address: 1300 Horner's Lane, Baltimore, MD 21205-3229
Description: One of the most visible signs of the very significant history of the Czech and Slovak community in Baltimore and Maryland is to be found on some ten acres of land in east Baltimore on Horner's Lane. The spot is near the intersection of Pulaski Highway and Erdman Avenue, not too far from what was once the center of the Czech community in Baltimore. This is in the northeast part of Baltimore.
History: In the early 1880's, this was "country" when a group of Czech "free thinkers", a non-Catholic group, arranged to purchase the land and create a place where members of the Czech and Slovak community could be buried. The "free-thinkers" were very nationalistic, pro-Slavic and opposed to the foreign (German, Austrian, Hungarian, and Roman Catholic) influences in the Czech Lands and in Slovakia. The creation of the Cemetery by (the Grand Lodge of the Czech Benevolent Association) provided an opportunity for the community to be tight knit and unified and at the same time preserve the culture. It is interesting that the Cemetery's charter was not only for a burial ground, but also for furthering Czech culture even to the point of having a language school! From its inception, the Cemetery was closely related to Sokol, with a great overlap of the supporters and Boards of Directors. Many of the grave markers are in the Czech language, and many of the stones bear pictures of the deceased as well. Unique to the Cemetery is the fact that there are several graves that are marked with a bust of the deceased. This is found no where else in the Baltimore area! Buried at the Cemetery are some former members of the Baltimore City Council, the State Legislature, the first head of the Maryland Lottery, a US Marshall, founders and presidents of several of the savings and loans that are an important part of the story of the Czechs in Maryland, judges, attorneys, veterans, etc.

The Cemetery was established in 1884, and it was an important part of the Czech community. On weekends people would take the trolley to the end of the line, and then walk the rest of the way to the Cemetery for a day of fellowship and food. It was also the picnic grounds and a place where Sokol could do their exercises in the outdoors. The ladies would cook, the children would do their exercises, the men, so it is said, would wander to the woods where there was a bit of a floating crap game and during prohibition, it is said, there was a still.

St. Alphonsus Church
where St. John Nepomucene Neumann worked

St. Wenceslaus Church
Location: Ashland Ave

Sokol Baltimore
3931E. Madison Street, Baltimore, MD 21205.

Bohemia Manor, Cecil Co.

The name Augustine Herman gave his large estate on Eastern shores. Augustine Herman is the first known permanent Czech settler in the US, who came to MD in the late 1660's after his early days in New Amsterdam. He was given over 20 thousand acres of land, together with the hereditary title of Lord, as a reward for the preparation of an accurate map of MD and VA on which he worked some ten years.

The 1700's up until the outbreak of the American Revolution was a period of rapid growth and development in Cecil County and the surrounding region. The descendants of Augustine Herman, who was born in Prague, Bohemia and settled here in 1760's, and other colonists of this area, expanded and developed their plantations on and around Bohemia Manor. The Hermans leased or sold seventy-five plantations as of 1733. These lands included territory in Elk Neck and acreage between the Conowingo and Octoraro Creeks. From 1700 to 1720 Bohemia Manor and the country south of it leading to the Sassafras River far exceeded the other parts of the county in wealth and importance. Tobacco, the great staple and money crop of the colonies at this time was cultivated in this region of Cecil County. Tobacco yielded large and profitable returns to the plantation owners. Wheat was also planted in this area but not in the same quantity as tobacco.
The planters shipped the tobacco in hogsheads (large casks or barrels) directly to England. The plantation owners relied on slaves to run their plantations and do most of the labor involved in the tobacco trade. The slaves were brought to Cecil County from the coast of Guinea. The ships that brought the slaves for the tobacco trade were the same ships that took the tobacco to London and to Liverpool. They would travel from England to Guinea, pick up their slave cargo, travel up the Chesapeake Bay to the Chester and Sassafras Rivers, stop at the tobacco plantation docks, unload and trade their slaves, load their ships with tobacco and return once again to England. Some of the tobacco was shipped up the Delaware River for consumption in the colonies.

During these early colonial years the various areas of Cecil County were organized according to parishes of different religious groups. These religious groups were primarily: the Reformed Dutch Church of Augustine Herman's, the Catholics who included, George Talbot, the early members of Lord Baltimore's family and many of the first settlers along the Elk and Susquehanna Rivers, The short-lived Labadist sect, the Quakers of the Nottingham lots, the Scottish-Irish Presbyterians of the area near New Munster, the Welsh Baptists of the Welsh Tract and the Episcopalians of North Elk (North East) and of Port Deposit. (This Port Deposit church was erected as part of the continuing boundary dispute between William Penn and Lord Baltimore during the 1730's.). The populations of these various parishes grew slowly but steadily during this period of time. Life in Cecil County during these early colonial years revolved around the church, the farm and the beginnings of community life and community government.

Augustine Herman Grave Site

Bohemia Manor Academy
The Jesuits established their second Maryland school at Bohemia Manor on the Eastern Shore at the head of the Chesapeake Bay. The land was apparently bequeathed to the Jesuits by Augustine Herman. John Carroll entered in 1745 to prepare for the Jesuit College at St. Omer in Flanders. The opening displayed shows the account of Mr. Wayt, the schoolmaster. Wayt was a layman and a convert; he may have been put in charge of the school to help circumvent the legal prohibitions against Roman Catholic education. The School was the predecessor of Georgetown University.

Chesapeake City, Cecil Co.

Community
Within easy reach of Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore and Washington D.C. is historic Chesapeake City, a small town representative of yesteryear and the famous C&D Canal. Formerly known as "The Village of Bohemia", Chesapeake City was born out of a dream of Augustine Herman to connect the Delaware River and the Chesapeake Bay

Bohemia Bay
Location: at the Bohemia River

Bohemia Manor School
Address: 2757 Augustine Herman Highway, Chesapeake City 21915
History: The Bohemia Manor Junior-Senior High School, built on a site originally surveyed by Augustine Herman, was dedicated on December 14, 1958. The school offered a solid academic program for students in grades 7 through 12 for the next thirty-five years until ground was broken for the addition of a building to house middle school students separately from the high school.

Chesapeake and Delaware Canal
In 1764, a canal was marked off along a conceptual route stretching across the Delmarva Peninsula from the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay to the Delaware River. The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal was the vision of Augustine Herman to connect Maryland commerce with the colonies to the North. After an unsuccessful first start further to the north construction began at the Chesapeake City location in 1824 and was completed in October of 1829. At its completion, two structures were reported to have been standing in the town which was then known as Bohemia Village: a pre-revolutionary building known as Chick's Tavern House and a lock house for collecting tolls. The town subsequently grew in response to the needs of the canal operations and commerce. In 1839, the town changed its name to Chesapeake City in anticipation of big things to come and incorporated in 1849 when the population reached 400.

Chesapeake City's historic area is on the National Historic Registry, as well as Maryland's Historic Registry. The town has many restored historic homes and shops and galleries, featuring hand-painted originals and prints, antiques, collectibles, clothing, gifts and crafts. Additional sights include the Canal Museum, art galleries, summer concerts, boat tours, and tours of the nearby horse country. There are also many fine restaurants and bed and breakfasts and transient and seasonal boat dockage availability.

MASSACHUSETTS

Boston, Suffolk Co.

Slavia Hall
History: Built in 1905. A cultural, educational and social center in South Boston. In 1915 renamed Czechoslovak Club. Sold.

Waltham, Middlesex Co.

Brandeis University
Note: Founded in 1948, the university is named for the late Louis Dembitz Brandeis, whose parents immigrated to the US from Prague, Bohemia around 1848. Louis Brandeis was a distinguished associate justice of the United States Supreme Court, The reflects the ideals of academic excellence and social justice he personified. Coeducational classes began on the site of the former Middlesex University, in Waltham, Massachusetts, with 107 students and 13 faculty members.
Guided for 20 years by its founding President, Abram L. Sachar, Brandeis grew quickly, establishing itself as an important national and international center for teaching and research. In 1961, only thirteen years after the university's founding, Phi Beta Kappa accreditation was conferred. Under each succeeding president, the university continued to grow in breadth and stature, while maintaining the very human scale of its educational environment and its solid liberal arts focus. In 1985 Brandeis was elected to membership in the Association of American Universities, which represents the 59 leading research universities in the United States and Canada.

Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1916-39), b. Louisville, Ky., grad. Harvard law school, 1877. A successful Boston lawyer (1879-1916), Brandeis distinguished himself by investigating insurance practices and by establishing (1907) Massachusetts savings-bank insurance. After defending (1900-07) the public interest in Boston utility cases, he served (1907-14) as counsel for the people in proceedings involving the constitutionality of wages and hours laws in Oregon, Illinois, Ohio, and California. In Muller v. Oregon (1908) he persuaded the U.S.Supreme Court that minimum-hours legislation for women was reasonable-and not unconstitutional-with a brief primarily consisting of statistical, sociological, economic, and physiological information. This "Brandeis brief," as it came to be called, revolutionized the practice of law. He opposed (1907-13) the monopoly of transportation in New England and successfully argued (1910-14) before the Interstate Commerce Commission against railroad-rate increases. In 1910 as one of the counsel in the congressional investigation of Richard A. Ballinger, he exposed the anticonservationist views of President Taft's Secretary of the Interior. As an arbitrator (1910) of a strike of New York garment workers (mostly Jewish), he became acutely aware of Jewish problems and afterward was a leader of the Zionist movement. An enemy of industrial and financial monopoly, he formulated the economic doctrine of the New Freedom that Woodrow Wilson adopted in his 1912 presidential campaign. Over the protests of the vested interests that Brandeis had alienated as "people's attorney," Wilson appointed (1916) him to the U.S. Supreme Court although opposition was voiced by anti-Semites and certain business interests. Long an advocate of social and economic reforms, he maintained a position of judicial liberalism on the bench. With Oliver Wendell Holmes, he often dissented from the majority. After Franklin Delano Roosevelt became (1933) President, Brandeis was one of the few justices who voted to uphold most of Roosevelt's New Deal legislation. He retired from the bench in 1939. Brandeis Univ. is named after him. He wrote Other People's Money (1914) and Business, a Profession (1914).

MICHIGAN

Banister, Macomb Co.

Sokol/Z.C.B.J. Hall

Dearborn Heights, Wayne Co.

Sokol Detroit Cultural Center
Address: 23600 W. Warren Ave., Dearborn Heights, MI 48128
Note: Has many beautiful artifacts

Detroit, Wayne Co.

Czech National Hall

St. John Nepomuk Church

St. Wenceslaus Church

Menonominee, Menominee Co.

Sokol/Z.C.B.J. Hall

North Unity. Grand Traverse Co.

Czech Community
Note: The oldest Czech settlement in Michigan

St. Louis, Gratiot Co.

CSA Lodge Hall of St. Louis
Address: 1404 Michigan Ave., St. Louis, MI 48880

Sokol St. Louis Hall
Address: 4690 Landsdowne, St. Louis, MO 63116

MINNESOTA

Hutchinson, McLeod Co.

Komensky Hall
Minneapolis, Hennepin Co.

Bohemia Flats
Location: Located below the Mississippi River bluffs on which the West Bank Campus of the university of Minnesota is now located. The settlement wa s razed in the early 1930s to make room for a municipal freight terminal.

New Prague, Le Seuer Co.

Broz Hotel
Location: New Prague, MN
Built in 1898 by W. S. Broz. He was an early teacher here, later became a furniture dealer and undertaker. Cas Gilbert, the architect of the MN State Capitol was the designer.Hotel is on the National Register of Historic Places.

St. Wencesauls Church
Location: New Prague, MN
Church is on the National Register of historic Places.

St. Wenceslaus Cemetery Chapel
Location: New Prague, MN

New Ulm, Brown Co.

German-Bohemian Immigrant Monument
Location: New Ulm, MN

Wanda Gag House
Location: 226 N. Washington St. (corner of Third North and Washington, New Ulm
Wanda Hazel Gag, author of the classic children's book, Millions of Cats, was born March 11, 1893, to artist and photographer Anton Gag, a Bohemia native, and his wife, Lissi, in New Ulm. She was the eldest of their seven children. They grew up in a unique home with skylights, an attic artist's studio and open turrets. Built in 1894, the house where Wanda lived until age 20 is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Wanda Gag House Association owns the property and is restoring it to its early 1900s period.
Following the death of her parents, Wanda struggled to provide for her sisters and to pursue her dream of becoming an artist. Scholarships enabled her to attend art schools. Wanda moved to New York City and later to New Jersey where she wrote and illustrated children's books, created lithographs and paintings which won her international renown. Millions of Cats first published in 1928 remains in print in several languages. She died in 1946.

St. Paul, Ramsey Co.

Anton Jurka House

Blair House
Location: near CSPS Hall

C.S.P.S. Hall
Address: 383 Michigan Street, St. Paul, MN 55102
Note: Might be on the National Register of Historic Places

St. Stanislaus Church

Sokol Minnesota
Address: 363 Michigan St., St. Paul, MN 55102
Designated Historic Site

Silver Lake, McLeod Co.

St. Joseph Church

MISSOURI

St. Louis, St. Louis Co.

American Czech Education Center
Address: 4690 Lansdowne Ave., St. Louis, MO 63116

Bohemian Synagogue
In St. Louis, where the first Jewish resident on record was a member of the extended Bloch family of Svihov, Bohemia, Bohemian Jews founded the congregation B’nai B’rith. In 1853 it was merged with the German-Jewish congregation, Emanu-El, into Congregation B’nai El. Rabbi M. Wise of Bohemia, who visited St. Louis before the fusion, mentioned that the B’nai El congregation had leanings toward reform a la Prague.”.

Czech Educational Center
Address: 4690 Lansdowne Ave,, St. louis, MO 63116

St. John Nepomuk Church
Location: St. Louis, MO
History: In 1854, a small group of Czech Catholic immigrants was laboring against great odds to organize the first Czech parish in America and to build a little wooden church, Saint John Nepomuk. The church of St. John Nepomuk became the first tangible accomplishment of the St. Louis Bohemian community. The growth and progress of St. John Nepomuk from 1865 to 1896 was remarkable. From the original small church of 1855 the parish grew to one of the largest in St. Louis. The first brick St. John Nepomuk Church was 62 by 114 feet. The second brick church, built after the cyclone, is 38 feet longer, with the same width. The steeple was always 170 feet above the level of the street

St. Wenceslaus Church
The second Bohemian church in St. Louis was built by Father Hessoun built in 1895 and dedicated to Czech Saint St. Wenceslaus.
Location: Oregon Ave., St. Louis.

Sokol St. Louis
Address:4690 Lannsdowne, St. Louis, MO 63116

MONTANA

Kolin, Judith Basin Co.

Czech Community

NEBRASKA

Abie, Butler Co.

Bohemian National Cemetery

Bohemian Catholic Cemetery

SS. Peter and Paul Church

Hladky House
Location: west and north of Abie, NE, in Butler Co., NE, built with old-country technique of unfired clay bricks

Appleton, Butler Co.

Bohemian Catholic Cemetery
St. Mary’s Church

Brainard, Butler Co.

Bohemian National Cemetery

Bohemian Catholic Cemetery

Holy Trinity Church

Bee, Seward Co.

Bohemian Catholic Cemetery

St. Wenceslaus Church

Bruno, Butler Co.

Bohemian National Cemetery

Bohemian Catholic Cemetery

St. Anthony de Padua Church

Brush Creek, Saline Co.

Brush Creek Sokol Hall
Location: in the country near WiIber

Burwell, Valley Co.

Josef Bruha and Anna Beran House
Location: Burwell vicinity
National Register of Historic Places: 19900405, 90000564

Clarkson, Colfax Co.

Bohemian Catholic Cemetery
Established in 1903

New Zion Church (Protestant)
Location: southeast of Clarkson, NE;
SS. Cyril and Methodius Church

Comstock, Valley Co.

Lodge Slavin No. 112 Z.C.B J. Hall
Location: Comstock vicinity
National Register of Historic Places 19921112, 92001569

Crete, Saline Co.

Big Blue Bohemian National Cemetery
Location: near Crete.

Jindra Cemetery
The oldest Czech cemetery in NE

Sokol Crete Hall
Address: 12th & Norman, Crete, NE 68333

St. Ludmila’s Church

De Weese, Clay Co.

St. Martin’s Catholic Church
Location: DeWeese vicinity
National Register of Historic Places 19850926, 85002574

Dodge, Dodge Co.

Bohemian National Cemetery

St. Wenceslaus Church

Dorchester, Saline Co.

Brabec Farmstead
1860s limestone and brick house on Brabec farmstead
Location: near Dorchester, NE.

Pisar Farmstead
1877 stone house and stone barn on Pisar farmstead
Location: near Dorchester, NE.

WFLA, ex-Z.C. B.J. Tabor Hall
meeting place, dance hall and social center)
Location: near Dorchester

Du Bois, Pawnee Co.

Kollar No. 101 ZCBJ Hall
Built around 1921, which shows the old Czech village baroque style
National Register of Historic Places 19900405, 90000567

Dwight, Butler Co.

Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary Church
Comprised of the church, the parish school and a garden with grotto, chapel;

Bohemian Catholic Cemetery
Established in 1896.

Howells, Colfax Co.

Bohemian Catholic Cemetery

Humboldt, Richardson Co.

Bohemian National Cemetery

Lawn, Box Butte Co.

Bohemian National Cemetery

Bohemian Catholic Cemetery

Lodgepole, Cheyenne Co.

Bohemian-Slavonian Cemetery

Vosika House
Location: southwest of Lodgepole, NE, which is unusual because it is stone, a huge
house, 3-rooms only, sides are symmetrical, like a large house in the old country; many houses of
early Czechs here followed the same floor plan as in Bohemia, but the rooms here were much
smaller. This one has very large rooms.

Loucky, Clay Co.

St. Martin Church

Milligan, Fillmore Co.

Bohemian Brethren Cemetery
Established in 1878

Milligan Auditorium

Morse Bluff, Saunders Co.

Bohemian National Cemetery
Established in 1875

St. George’s Church

Netolice, Geranium Township, Valley Co.

Bohemian National Cemetery

Niobrara, Knox Co.

Z.C.B.J. Hall

Odell, George Co.

Bohemian National Cemetery

Church of Blessed Virgin Mary of Perpetual Help

Omaha, Douglas Co.

Bohemian Brethren Presbyterian Church

Bohemian National Cemetery

Church of the Assumption

John Rosicky Monument
Location: Bohemian National Cemetery, Omaha

St. Wenceslaus Church

Sokol Omaha Hall
Address: 2234 S. 13th St., Omaha, NE 68108

Sokol South Omaha
Address: 2021 U St., Omaha, NE 68107

Ord, Valley Co.

Bohemian National Cemetery

Czech Barn Building
Wood-frame Czech barn building; this shows the transition because it has a small loft on it,
belonging to Richard Bilka
Location: west of Ord.

Church of Blessed Virgin Mary

Pishelville, Knox Co.

Bohemian Cemetery

Vesely House
Location: at the Pishelville settlement, near Verdigre, NE;
a log house, which echoes the Czech design of a 3--part house;

WFLA Lodge Sladkowsky No. 4 Hall
Location: at Pishelville settlement, near Verdigre, NE; this is the oldest fraternal hall
still standing in Nebraska, and possibly in the US, dating back to 1882-84. It was originally a
CSPS hall, later became ZCBJ;
Registry: National Register of Historic Places

Plasi, Saunders Co.

Plasi Catholic Church
Location: southwest of Prague, NE, and cemetery, where the first Czech immigrants to Saunders County settled

Bohemian Catholic Cemetery

Plattsmouth, Cass Co.

Holy Rosary Church

Prague, Saunders Co.

Bohemian National Cemetery

Prague Presbyterian Church
Note: Demonstrates old-country architecture

St. John the Baptist Church

Ravenna, Sherman Co.

Bohemian National Cemetery

Schneider, Buffalo Co.

Bohemian National Cemetery

Schuyler, Colfax Co.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church
Location: , northwest of Schuyler, NE, and south of Clarkson, in Colfax County, NE, which was recently severely damaged by a tornado and does need restoration. This church is unique because it was done by a local architect, as opposed to being designed by diocesan architecture.

Table Rock, Pawnee Co.

Bohemian-Slavonian Cemetery

Tabor, Colfax Co.

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church

Thurston, Thurston Co.

John Hus Church

Touhy, Saunders Co.

Catholic Church

Verdigree, Knox Co.

Bila Hora Z.C.B.J. Lodge Hall
in Verdigree, NE, dating to about 1905

Bohemian Catholic Cemetery

St. Wenceslaus Church

Wahoo. Saunders Co.

St Wenceslaus Church
Note: Probably the biggest and most elaborate in the area

Wahoo Presbyterian Church

Weston, Saunders Co.

St. John of Nepomuk Church

Weston Presbyterian Church

Wilber, Saline Co.

Czech-Slovanian Cemetery
Note: One of the most beautiful wholly Czech cemeteries in NE

North Fork Cemetery
Location: near Wilber

Sokol Wilber Hall
Address: 317 Wilson, Wilber, NE 68465
On National Register of Historical Places

St. Wenceslaus Church

Saline Center Hall
WFLA, ex-ZCBJ meeting place, dance hall and social center)
Location: near Wilber, NE.

Wilber Czech Cemetery
Location: Wilber, NE;

Monument to the first Czech pioneers to settle in Saline County, Nebraska
Location: Located near their homesteads on the Big Blue River, monument located alongside Nebraska Highway 103 between Wilber and Crete, NE.

Zion, Colfax Co.

Zion Church

NEW JERSEY

Little Ferry, Bergen Co.

Sokol Little Ferry Hall
14 Garden Street, Little Ferry, NJ 07643

Newark, Essex Co.

Bohemian Auditorium
Location: 17th Street & 19th Avenue, Newark, NJ
Status: Not known

Oheb Shalom Synagogue
Formerly “Boehmische Schul” of Newark, New Jersey.
History: It was organized in 1860 by breaking away from the original congregation B’nai Jeshuran, the first Jewish congregation founded in the city of Newark and in the state of New Jersey, in 1846. Bohemian-Jewish family names recognizable to the historian - such as Abeles, Adler, Bleir, Bloch, Bondy, Eckstein, Eisler, Fischel, Frankel, Fuerth, Gans, Heller, Jeiteles, Kohn, Kussy, Loewy, Schloser, Weiss - were represented among the founders. In Newark, the old bohemian tradition prevailed in another respect: the congregation has remained conservative.Its growth symbolized through the character of its three places of worship: the small rented quarters on the third floor of the building, 23 Prince Street (1860 to about 1865), no longer in existence; the little frame synagogue on Prince street (about 1865-1911) dedicated by Rabbi Isaac M. Wise of Bohemia, and the present magnificent edifice on High Street (built in 1911).

Orange, Esseex Co.

Norbert and Maja Capek Memorial
Dr. Capek was an influential figure both in the United States and in his native land. It was at the Essex Unitarian Church that he adopted the Unitarian faith before returning to Prague, where he founded what became the largest Unitarian congregation in the world. During his residence in the United States during World War I he was active in the movement for Czechoslovak independence, and he was president of the New Jersey Slovak Political and Educational Alliance.
The monument will be dedicated on June of 2000.

NEW YORK

Albany, Albany Co.

Court of Appeals
Architect: Leopold Eidlitz, a native of Prague, Bohemia
Note: The first session of the Court of Appeals in the new Capitol was held on October 1, 1883. The Second Floor of the Capitol was specifically designed to accommodate the Executive Chamber and the Court of Appeals, important ceremonial spaces for the executive and judicial branches of government. The Courtroom was located on the second floor of the north side of the Capitol, adjoining the Golden Corridor leading from the Great Western Staircase, immediately beneath the Assembly Chamber. This Courtroom (Room 250), designed for the Court of Appeals by Leopold Eidlitz, was completed in 1879. It contained a unique carved oak ceiling, elaborately carved oak wall paneling, stone wainscot, a monumental carved stone fireplace and mantel, cast bronze "griffin" andirons and wrought iron and brass fenders. A line of columns and arches bisected the room, with the larger space devoted to the courtroom proper and the smaller one to spectators. Eidlitz also designed the two-toned crimson patterned carpet, drapes, six polished-brass Gothic three-light wall sconces and three twelve-light matching gas chandeliers, all with etched glass shades, and the polychromatic-paint wall decoration -- a-red-on-red stenciled pattern, with a band of gold leaf at the ceiling. The Eidlitz Courtroom was used temporarily by the Senate between 1879, when the Legislature relocated from the old Capitol, and 1881, when the Senate Chamber was completed.

New York State's Capitol
Description: The Capitol is a stunning and beautiful example of 19th century architecture. Truly a masterpiece, great care was devoted to the planning of this building and today it remains widely recognized among State Capitols. The Capitol was initially designed by Englishman Thomas Fuller, who also designed the Parliament buildings in Ottawa, Canada. However, the Capitol that Fuller envisioned was never completed. In 1876, Fuller was replaced by two prominent American architects, Leopold Eidlitz, a native of Prague, Bohemia, and Henry Hobson Richardson. Working together to evaluate and modify Fuller's design, they transformed the Capitol from a good building to a great one. Spanning four decades, the finished Capitol took 32 years to build, from 1867 to 1899. The final cost was a staggering $25 million dollars. Today, that same structure would cost a half billion dollars to build.
Four hundred feet long and three hundred feet wide, the Capitol has five stories with a full basement and attic. It is constructed principally of gray granite and has walls over sixteen feet thick at the foundation. With the change in architects, the exterior design became a "battle of styles", in which Italian Renaissance, Romanesque and French Renaissance were blended. However, much the real beauty of this building lies within.
Historical significance: Prague-born architect Leopold Eidlitz, led the American Gothic revival of the second half of the 19th century and founded the American Institute of Architects.

Astoria, Queens Co.

Bohemian Hall & Park
Address: 29-19 24th Avenue, Astoria, NY 11102; Phone: (718) 274-4925; FAX: (718) 728-9278
History: BHP was built by Bohemian Citizens' Benevolent Society of Astoria, Inc. in 1910, originally as a school house, to educate "Czech children and children of Czech parentage that Czech culture may be taught and blended with American traditions and culture." The Society was founded in 1894 with the purpose of building the Czech School / social home for the Czech community that just started to expand from Manhattan (Yorkville). The Society was incorporated in 1902 as a non-profit organization. Later, with the creation of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1918, the society embraced the Slovak nationals to its ranks as well.

Bohemian Hall & Park, as we know it today, is a product of several expansions. First came the Czech School, a two-story building approx. 50 feet wide and 40 feet long, with a basement. On the first floor, there was a meeting room, and a three-room apartment on the second floor, there were two classrooms, library, and toilets; the basement served as a storage space. Several years later, a dance hall with a stage was added for 250 persons, to the back of the school building, with a basement accommodating bowling alleys, a kitchen with pantries, boiler room, and a maintenance shop. The hall is 50 feet wide and 85 feet long. At that time also a bar with a beer cellar was added to the side of the original building, 20 feet wide and 40 feet long. And ultimately, but not sooner than after the Prohibition, a beer garden was added in early 1930s, where 12 elm trees were planted and now create an impressive canopy over the garden, which is the last beer garden remaining in New York City. Size of the garden is 200 feet by 125 feet. All land on which the original building, additions and the beer garden stand, was donated by original landowners who were of Czech ancestry.

With the decline of immigration in the 1950s, the Czech language as well as cultural and social activities slowly disappeared from the Hall and Astoria in general. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, only the Czechoslovak Day was still celebrated on the premises. The Hall was turned into a catering establishment run by a few remaining members of the dwindling Society, and
portions of the building were leased to Hellenic American Neighborhood Action Committee (HANAC), for a senior citizens center, and to Delnicky Americky Sokol. D.A. Sokol rebuilt the interior of the dance hall, originally with 8-foot tall windows, into a gymnasium, reducing the size of the windows and the stage, and cladding the original plaster walls and ceiling with pinewood boards and gypsum acoustical panels. These interventions entirely changed the appearance of the main hall. Fortunately, the ownership of the Hall and Park have remained with the Society. When in the early 1990s the overall enthusiasm for the re-born democracy in Czechoslovakia brought along a revival of the Czechoslovak community in New York City, new and young Czech- and Slovak-Americans joined the Society, became elected into the Board of Directors, and revived the
Czech social and cultural life. Today, Bohemian Hall & Park is again a well-established center of the Czech and Slovak community in the area, with numerous regular social events for the older generations as well as monthly dances for the young newcomers.

Bohemia, Long Island

Czech Community

History: Bohemia is one of Long Island's hundreds of distinct communities and, like many others, is served by its own fire and ambulance departments, school district, and town (Islip) and county (Suffolk) governments. The community was first settled in 1855 by Czechs escaping the tyranny of the Hapsburg Emperors of Austria-Hungary. In 1894, Community residents named Bohemia after their homeland.

Joseph Kovarik Post American Legion Hall
A beautiful brick edifice housing the Joseph Kovarik Post, No. 1146, American Legion, dedicated on September 21, 1941

St. John Nepomucene R. C. Church
First existed as mission of St. Patrick Church, Bay Shore and later of St. Lawrence’s Church, Sayville. The first mission chapel, built in 1885 was 36' X 20', with a eating capacity of less than 100. It was built thirty years after the building of the community and today, this same building renovated and enlarged to 55' X 20" in 1922.

St. John’s -on-the-Plains

Statue of Jan Hus
Location: Erected in Union Cemetery in 1893
Historical significance: Jan Hus (1371-1415) was a Bohemian religious reformer and martyr. His death as a martyr set off civil wars in Bohemia, the Hussite wars, and inspired Martin Luther in his revolt against the Catholic Church.

Union Cemetery

World War II Monument

Buffalo, Erie Co.

Public Library Building
Architect: Cyrus Eidlitz of Bohemian descent

New York, New York Co.

Bohemian National Hall (Narodni budova)
Address: 321-325 East 73rd Street, New York, NY 10021
History: The Hall was built in 1896 by the Bohemian Benevolent & Literary Association (BBLA), an umbrella organization of 41 Czech-American societies. It is located on the prestigious Upper East Side in Manhattan, on East 73rd Street, between 1st and 2nd avenue, in the midst of the old Czech neighborhood Yorkville. The local Czech community has dissipated over time and the Hall stays in the middle of a good, predominantly residential neighborhood, one with high rents, etc. Description: The Hall has 6 floors -- one underground, and 5 above ground, with the 4th & 5th floor connected together to form the so-called "Grand Ballroom" which used to be used for theatrical and musical performances, different festivities and the like. One can still see an old faded inscription "A Nation Dedicates to Itself" above the curtain. In addition to this, its biggest pride, the Hall also housed a restaurant, a movie theater, another small theater on the ground level, Czech school, club rooms belonging to the individual societies, a shooting gallery and a bowling alley in the basement, even rooms for new Czech arrivals to America. First president of Czechoslovakia, Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, as well as his son, Jan Masaryk, a foreign affairs minister, were among the many historical persons who had visited the Hall. Antonin Dvorak, the Czech composer living in New York at the turn of the century, organized a benefit concert for its construction. Nowadays, the Hall enjoys a "City Landmark" status, thereby being officially declared off-limits for demolition or any major change. Since 1985, it is officially closed for larger gatherings, because its floor plan does not meet the current construction (fire) regulations of the City of New York. The estimated cost of the necessary reconstruction which would bring it up to the code is $8-$10 million. At the same time, the cash reserves of the BBLA are currently only about $300-$400,000.

Bohemian Synagogue
The Congregation Ahabath Hesed, from which the Central Synagogue has sprung, was organized by Bohemian Jews in 1848 and had its own cemetery in Cyprus Hill. The parent organization, recorded as early as 1846, was not a synagogue but a mutual aid society (hebra) called “Bohemian Brothers.”

Dvorak Monument
Location: northeast corner of Stuyvesant Square Park, E 17th St. at 2nd Avenue, New York, NY

Jan Hus Church (“Husuv sbor”)

New York Times Building, Times Square
Architect Cyrus Eidlitz, was born on July 27, 1853, in New York, New York. His father, Prague-born architect Leopold Eidlitz, led the American Gothic revival of the second half of the 19th century and founded the American Institute of Architects. Educated in Europe, the younger Eidlitz designed numerous public buildings. In 1904, Cyrus Eidlitz collaborated with Alexander McKenzie on the New York Times Building--a steel-framed skyscraper with Beaux-Arts facade and Gothic accents created for publisher Arthur Ochs. Perhaps Eidlitz's most famous work, it filled a triangle at the base of Longacre Square, subsequently renamed Times Square. At the time of its opening, the Times Building was the second tallest in Manhattan and soon became the cornerstone of a full-fledged theater district. By the 1930s over 50 theaters, including the Ziegfeld Theater, competed for audiences in Times Square. At the urging of Ochs, Eidlitz and McKenzie connected the Times Building underground to the 42nd Street station. As early as 1904, New Yorkers were riding the subway from City Hall in lower Manhattan to 145th Street in just 26 minutes. Within a decade, the newspaper outgrew the Times Building and moved on. Today, a band of electric lights mounted across the facade transmits news and announcements. The building remains a focal point of Times Square where crowds gather every December 31st to welcome the new year.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church

Sokol New York Hall
420 E. 71st St., New York, NY 10021
Note: Has library and historic archives

Tarrytown, Westchester Co.

Philipsburg Manor
Location: Upper Mills, Route 9, North Broadway, Tarrytown, NY
Telephone: (914) 631-8200
Historical significance: Built by Frederick Philipse
Hours: 10 am-5 pm daily, except Tuesday
Admission: $7 adults, $6 senior citizens, $4 children, free under six

Yonkers, Westchester Co.

Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site
Location: Warburton and Dock Streets, Yonkers, NY
Telephone: (914) 965-4027
Historical significance: Built by Frederick Philipse

NORTH CAROLINA

Roanoke Island, Dare Co.

The First Settlement on the US Territory
Location: It was originally considered by the English a part of Virginia and, currently, represents the southern coastline of Virginia and the Northern Coastline of North Carolina, past Cape Hatteras.
History: The very First expedition was carried out by Amidas and Barlow who were sent by Walter Raleigh in 1584 to coast the area, carrying out a largely reconnaissance mission. The First settlement of Roanoke actually occurred during the second expedition that was set out. The group, led by Richard Greenville, reached the coastline of what is now Virginia and Northern North Carolina, in June 1585, and after informing the Native Americans that they had arrived, set up a settlement on Roanoke Island. This settlement came to an end approximately one year later when open warfare erupted between the colonists and the Native Americans on the Island. The colonists returned to England and safety on one of Francis Drake's ships.
Historical significance: The colony included Joachim Gans from Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia,
an expert on metals and metallurgy. He is the first known Bohemian settler in the US, also the first known Jew to settle on american continent. Gans was a scientist by profession and thus he can also be considered the first scientist to settle in the US.
Note: Need to place a suitable plaque on the location.

Winston-Salem, Forsyth Co.

Old Salem
Location: Juxtaposed with the modern skyscrapers highlighting the Winston-Salem skyline are the austere steeples and structures that represent the city's earliest roots. Salem, founded by the Moravians in 1766, was one of the earliest planned communities in the colonies. The Moravians migrated first to Pennsylvania and expanded south via the Great Wagon Road in the mid-1700s, bringing with them a love of church, education and music. Their skilled craftsmen opened sawmills, breweries, and tanneries in the area.
Description: Along the upper part of Church Street you will find God's Acre and the Vierling House. As you move down from God's Acre to the main part of Church Street you will find Home Moravian Church, Salem College and the Single Sisters House. At the end of Church Street you will find St. Philips Church, which is the site of the first African American church in Salem. From Main Street and Academy you will find the Coffee pot , which marks the upper entrance to the community , the Tobacco Shop, the Winkler Bakery and the Boy's School. As you move down Main Street to Walnut Street, you will see the Brothers House, the Vogler House, the Market-Fire House and the Tavern.
Historical significance: This restored Moravian congregation town preserves lifestyles of late 18th and early 19th centuries through living history. A library and archives contain Moravian Church records, manuscripts, maps, photos, films, video tapes, recordings, and genealogical records.
Old Salem is a historic site that resembles what was once the colonial town of Salem. Today some 400,000 people visit Old Salem each year. The way the Salem residents used to live has been recreated in this old town of Salem located in North Carolina.

POINTS OF INTEREST IN OLD SALEM

Single Brothers House
Built : in 1769
History: This half-timbered structure with its brick addition in 1786, is where the unmarried men lived and operated their businesses. Usually, at the age of 14, Moravian boys came here to live and learn a trade.

Miksch Tobacco Shop
Built: in 1771
The Miksch Tobacco Shop is a weatherboard, log building and was the first privately-owned house in Salem and is the oldest tobacco shop in America. Matthew Miksch, who was of Moravian ancestry, owned and operated the shop.

Winkler Bakery
Built: in 1800
Christian Winkler owned and operated the Winkler Bakery and set the baking traditions that are continued even today. The wood-fired oven is heated daily (except Sunday) and baked good are sold to the visiting public.

Boys School
Built: in 1794
This building which is now the Wachovia Museum was originally used as boys school from 1794 until 1896.

Market-Fire House
This building originally housed a meat market in 1803 and in 1856 the Salem board of aldermen voted to remove the market from the square as well as the fire-house which had been added to it. Julius Mickey was given permission to move the old building to the sw corner of Main and Belews Sts. There Mr. Mickey opened his grocery-tinsmith shop and it is also the original location of the famous Salem Coffee Pot.

John Vogler House
Built: in 1819
This building was the house and shop of John Vogler the silversmith and clockmaker.

The Moravian Music Foundation
Location: 20 Cascade Ave, Winston-Salem, NC 27217
Purpose: The foundation preserves, studies, and produces modern editions of music from its collections of approximately 10,000 manuscripts, early imprints, and related documents. These collections, which range from the 16th century to the present, were assembled by the Moravians, Protestant missionaries who came to Pennsylvania and North Carolina in the 18th century. They brought with them a rich musical heritage which they maintained -- and enriched -- in the American wilderness. They sent for music from Europe, hand copied what they could not purchase, composed both sacred and secular music, formed the first community orchestras and chamber music ensembles, and built the first organs and stringed instruments in the colonies. And when musical styles changed, they carefully put away the "old" music for some future use. In the 1950s, musicologists discovered these extensive and diverse collections. The Moravian Music Foundation was founded in 1956 to be the custodian and curator of this music.

Salem Tavern
This tavern (now a museum) was built, owned, and operated by the Moravians to accommodate the many visitors. There were many managers or keepers of the tavern over the years, one of whom was John Holland.

Shultz Shoemaker Shop
Built: in 1827
This small shop was operated by Samuel Schultz, the make of shoes and footwear. Mr. Schultz did not live in this shop, but instead lived in a separate residence. He was one of the first to do so.

Vierling House and Apothecary
Built: in 1802
This was the last house built by John Kottlob Krause and was the home of Dr. Samuel Benjamin Vierling, a most renowned physician. He performed procedures that even today would be regarded as major operations.

Zevely Inn
This newest restoration in Old Salem is a Bed and Breakfast establishment. Dr. Augustus T. Zevely purchased this home from David Blum and used it for his home, office, and as a rooming house for visitors to Salem. You can contact the Zevely Inn for reservations. (910) 748-9299

Home Moravian Church
Built: in 1771
The congregation of this church was founded in 1771 and the church sanctuary was built in 1800 and is the place of worship for the members today. The Church has retained many traditions of the past while providing a broad program of activity for the 20th-century congregation.

Old Moravian Graveyard
Location: Called by the Moravians as “God’s Acre”, can be found along the upper part of Church Street.

NORTH DAKOTA

Bechyn, Walsh Co.
Location: near Lambert, ND

Lankin, Walsh Co.

Sokol/ZCBJ Hall

Lidgerwood, Richland Co.

St. John Nepomucene Church
First church built in 1887 which burnt out in 1905. New church built in 1907

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Mandan, Morton Co.

Sokol/Z.C.B.J. Hall

New Hradec, Stark Co.

SS. Peter and Paul Church

New Salem, Morton Co.

Z.C.B.J. Hall

Pisek, Walsh Co.

Czech Community
Pisek was established in 1882 when many Czech families settled in the area. Pisek was chosen as the name partly because some of the settlers had come from Pisek, Czechoslovakia, and also partly because the town was built near a sand ridge and Pisek means sand in Czech.

St. John Nepomucene Catholic Church
Address: P. O. Box 27, Pisek, ND 58273

St. John’s Cemetery

Veseleyville, Walsh Co.

Czech Community
Established: in 1881

Sr. Luke’s Catholic Church

St. Luke’s Cemetery

Table Rock, Pawnee Co.

Bohemian Cemetery (Cesko-Slovamsky hrbitov)
Organized in 1877.

Wahoo, Saunders Co.

Bohemian Protestant Cemetery

Wahpeton, Richland Co.

St. Adalbert R. C. Church
First church built in 1885 which burnt out in1906. New church built in1908.

OHIO

Bellaire, Belmont Co.

CSA Hall
Address: 4103-1/2 Harrison St., Bellaire, OH 43906

Cincinnati, Hamilton Co.

Hebrew Union College
History: The college was founded in 1875 in Cincinnati, the first institution of Jewish higher learning in America. Its founder was Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise of Bohemia, the architect of American Reform Judaism, who had established the Union of American Hebrew Congregations two years earlier for the primary purpose of supporting a seminary to train rabbis for the Reform Movement. In 1922, Rabbi Stephen S. Wise established the Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. The similar orientation of the two schools led to their merger in 1950. A third center was opened in Los Angeles in 1954 to serve the growing Jewish community on the West Coast. A fourth branch was established in Jerusalem in 1963.
From modest beginnings, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion has developed into an institution providing a wide variety of academic programs. In addition to its Rabbinic School, the College includes a School of Graduate Studies, a School of Biblical Archaeology and Schools of Education, Jewish Communal Service and Sacred Music.

Isaac M. Wise Temple
KK Bene Yeshrun (Plum Street Temple)
Address: 8329 Ridge Road, Cincinnati Ohio 45236; Phone: (513) 793-2556
Note: Named in honor of Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, a native of Bohemia.

Description: This house of worship is not a museum to the past; it is a living dynamic sanctuary, still retained by a congregation devoted to its maintenance and it continuation. Plum Street Temple is the fountainhead of Reform Judaism in America. This majestic synagogue continues to reflect Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise's vision of Reform Judaism, a religious movement with a distinctly American look. The Temple has gone through several renovations, the most recent in 1995 when the sanctuary was closed for 1 year while a team of internationally acclaimed artists and architects worked on restoring the Temple to its original grandeur. In 1975 it was designated as a National Historic Place.
History: The Bene Yeshurun Congregation was founded as a result of a large migration of German Jews to Cincinnati, Ohio in the mid-19th century. On September 19, 1841, the Congregation was organized and in 1848, its temple was dedicated on Lodge Street in the West End of Cincinnati.
In April of 1854, Bene Yeshurun called to its pulpit Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise. Wise was destined to become one of the leading rabbis of the country and the strongest influence in the development of Reform Judaism in the United States. From the beginning of his career, Wise introduced reforms in the ritual, making Rene Yeshurun a pioneer Reform Jewish Congregation. Many of the institutions of the new Reform movement were developed by Wise and were, to a large extent, directed by him until his death in 1900. Wise was succeeded by Louis Grossmann, also of Czechoslovak descent, who held the pulpit from 1900 to 1921. James G. Heller, the son of a Reform rabbi from New Orleans, Maximillian H. Heller, a native of Prague, Bohemia. was elected rabbi in 1921. In 1931 Bene Yeshuruh Congregation merged with Congregation Sherith Israel Ahabath-Achim (Reading Road Temple) to form the Isaac M. Wise Temple, Rene Yeshurun Congregation. Rabbi Samuel Wohl became the assistant rabbi of the congregation in 1931. Rene Yeshurun operated a synagogue at Eighth and Plum Streets, and a center at Reading and North Crescent Avenue. Heller left Wise Temple in 1952, and Rabbi Albert Goldman became Wohl's colleague.

Cleveland, Cuyahoga Co.

Cleveland Bohemian Community
The beginning of the Bohemian community in Cleveland goes back to the 1830's, when a few Bohemian immigrants made their home here in this city. In 1849 a number of families interrupted their journey to Wisconsin and so liked this area that they also settled here. These families lived on the eastern slope-of the Cuyahoga River Valley, where they were within walking distance from the first and, at that time, the only Catholic Church in Cleveland, Saint Mary-on-the-Flats

Bohemian National Hall
Address: 4939 Broadway, Cleveland, OH 44127

Czech Cultural Garden
Location: On the upper East Boulevard Drive, about 150 yards south of the intersection of the boulevard with the St. Clair Avenue, its west boundary extending down to the lower East Boulevard drive.
Description: It depicts the arts of the Bohemian, Moravian, and Silesian peoples.
Forming the top border of a monumental stone wall is a sculptured frieze portraying the discovery of Bohemia and the American migration of the Czech people, bearing their rich cultural gifts. Surmounting the wall and facing the lawn is a series of four bronze heroic busts of celebrated Czech personages. These are Bedrich Smetana, composer, Dr. Miroslav Tyrs, educator and founder of Sokol, Jan E. Purkyne, biologist, and Bozena Nemcova, women novelist.Other busts in the Czech Garden have been raised to Frantisek Palacky, historian, Antonin Dvorak, composer, Jindrich Simon Bar, novelist and Karel Havlicek, poet and journalist. In 1958 was unveiled one additional statue, namely that of Jan Amos Komensky, the “father of education.” All the busts in the Czech Garden, as well as the wall frieze, are the work of Frank L. Jirouch, Cleveland-born sculptor of Czech descent.

Ceska Sin Karlin Hall
Address: 5302 Fleet ave., Cleveland, OH 44105

Sokol Ceska Sin Hall
Address: 4314 Clark Ave., Cleveland, OH 44109
Built in 1907
Registry: National Register of Historic Places

Sokol Greater Cleveland Hall
Address: 4939 Broadway Ave., Clebeland, OH 44122
Note: Has library and archives. They are building a new gymnasium next to their historic Bohemian Hall.
May already be designated Historic site

St. Joseph Church
History: In 1847 the first Bohemian priest arrived in Cleveland. Father Anthony Krasny was assigned by Bishop Amadeus Rappe to the newly founded German parish of Saint Peter on Superior Avenue, where he conducted separate services for the Bohemian Catholics. Father Krasny established the mission church and school of Saint Bernard at Orange and Irving (East 25th Street). The mission grew to be a parish with Father Krasny as pastor and the church moved to its present location off Woodland Avenue and East 23rd Street with the new name of Saint Joseph Church.

St. Wenceslaus Church
In 1869 Bishop Rappe appointed Father Krasny as the pastor of the first Bohemian parish, Saint Wenceslaus, located at the corner of Burwell and Arch Streets. The parish and the entire area were growing rapidly because of the industrialization due to the Civil War. John D. Rockefeller and the Standard Oil Company were located within the parish boundaries. The original Rockefeller Refinery was built near what is now East 34th Street and Broadway. The need for skilled laborers sent representatives of the Rockefeller Company to Europe to recruit immigrants to work in the refinery. Many Czech immigrants came to this country and to the Broadway area where they worked for Standard Oil as barrel makers and other skilled workmen.

St. Procopius Church

Our Lady of Lourdes Church
History: In 1882 Bishop Richard Gilmour asked Father Anton Hynek, then pastor of Saint Wenceslaus, to buy property for another Bohemian parish. Father Hynek bought six lots at the comer of Hamm Avenue and East 55th Street for the cost of $4,200.00. The new parish was located in a neighborhood called "Zizkov," named after a section of the city of Prague.

In Prague a seminarian by the name of Stephen Furdek heard that the bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland in America was asking for priests to help care for the increasing number of immigrants from Bohemia and Slovakia in Cleveland. Stephen responded to this call and set out for the United States. On his way to America he visited the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France and asked her help in the new work that he was about to undertake. There at the shrine he made the promise that he would name the first parish of which he would be pastor after Our Lady of Lourdes. Soon after his arrival, which was July 7,1882, he was ordained and appointed assistant to Father Hynek. As such, Father Furdek organized the new parish that Father Hynek established and, according to the promise that he had made, named the new parish Our Lady of Lourdes.

In preparation for its 115th Anniversary, Our Lady of Lourdes Church has completed a number of repairs and refinishing projects in the Church building. These included: Repainting of the Church ceiling, side walls, restoration of the artwork on the various paintings throughout the Church. The Church and rectory roofs have been replaced. The sanctuary chairs and kneelers have been repainted and refinished with new dark blue velvet fabric. An ambry which contains the blessed oils used in the administration of the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Anointing of the Sick has been added to the sanctuary - near the baptismal font. Mazzolini Inc. (professional church statue restorers) have been contracted to refinish many of the statues in the Church. To date, several of them have been completed. There are plans for many others to be redone. The priests' sacristy, choir room, passageway behind the altar (located in the back of the sanctuary) have been completely renovated with new ceiling fixtures, cabinets, and cases, windows, wallpaper, paneling, and carpeting

St. John Nepomucene Church
Built: in 1903

Clinton, Clinton Co.

Moravian Community
New Gradenhutten was located at Moravian Road and the Clinton River
History: On July 22, 1782, David Zeisberger, Moravian missionary of Suchdol, Moravia, and his followers founded the first settlement in Clinton Township. He described the site of "New Gnadenhutten" in his diary, "founded on this side of the river a fine place to lay out a town on a height...between the river and the height, there are many springs with many separate little brooks that flow into the river and have exceedingly good water. The land on the site of the town is so sandy...the lowlands are very rich with heavy timber. We chose this place before all others for our town site...heavily laden boats can go even to the fork, a half-mile higher up...and canoes can go much further. We are glad and thankful to have

Czech-American Historic Places & Monuments. By Miloslav Rechcigl, Jr.

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Listing of Historic Sites & Monuments