Praha - Texas Ghost Town

PRAHA

NAME: Praha
COUNTY: Fayette
ROADS: 2WD
GRID: 5
CLIMATE: Warm winter, hot summer
BEST TIME TO VISIT:Winter, spring, fall

COMMENTS: Still used today.
REMAINS: The gothic church.

A penniless immigrant from Czechoslovakia, Mathias Novak, settled in the area in 1854 and is credited with creating the mother colony of the many Czech settlements throughout Texas. As time passed, other Czechs immigrating from Europe joined him and the town was given the name Praha which means "Prague" in the Czech language. The town became the center of a rich agricultural area and by the 1880s had a population of seven hundred residents. In 1890, work was started on what became one of the most magnificent Gothic churches in Texas. It required five years to complete and stands today as a tribute to those early Czech Bohemian Catholics. Again, the location of railroads drew businesses from Praha to other neighboring towns. Today, the Czech colony remains quiet and seemingly almost abandoned except for Sundays when worshipers come from afar to attend services in the church. Praha lies on Farm to Market Road 1295 about a mile south of its intersection with U.S. Highway 90 in Fayette County. SUBMITTED BY: Henry Chenoweth	Praha in the 1890's Courtesy Institute of Texan Cultures, San Antonio, Texas Church in Praha Courtesy Bobbye and Speedy Drake Praha Bobbye and Speedy Drake Praha Courtesy Bobbye and Speedy Drake

A penniless immigrant from Czechoslovakia, Mathias Novak, settled in the area in 1854 and is credited with creating the mother colony of the many Czech settlements throughout Texas. As time passed, other Czechs immigrating from Europe joined him and the town was given the name Praha which means "Prague" in the Czech language. The town became the center of a rich agricultural area and by the 1880s had a population of seven hundred residents. In 1890, work was started on what became one of the most magnificent Gothic churches in Texas. It required five years to complete and stands today as a tribute to those early Czech Bohemian Catholics. Again, the location of railroads drew businesses from Praha to other neighboring towns. Today, the Czech colony remains quiet and seemingly almost abandoned except for Sundays when worshipers come from afar to attend services in the church. Praha lies on Farm to Market Road 1295 about a mile south of its intersection with U.S. Highway 90 in Fayette County. SUBMITTED BY: Henry Chenoweth

Praha in the 1890's
Courtesy Institute of Texan Cultures, San Antonio, Texas

Church in Praha
Courtesy Bobbye and Speedy Drake

Praha
Bobbye and Speedy Drake

Praha
Courtesy Bobbye and Speedy Drake

BACK