Virginia, New Bohemia
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Beginning in the late 1880's, this region of Prince George County along the Norfolk & Western Railway became the center of the first largest settlement of Czech and Slovak immigrants in Virginia. Originally known as Wells Station, then Estes, it was renamed New Bohemia in 1911 at the request of those settlers. Forming a community of homes, general stores, a church, hotel, school and neighborhood meeting hall, this small group of agrarian immigrants reclaimed and restored 12,000 acres of farmland left barren following the Civil War. In the 21st Century, many of the original family farms nearby continue to contribute to local growth and economy.
On the adjacent 12 acre site, deeded to the Diocese of Richmond by Marie O. Hanzlik, 29 Czech families (which included Josef Machat, Sr., leading Czech settler in Virginia) established the first Czech Catholic Parish in the Commonwealth. The initial church building was dedicated in 1906, followed by the erection of the Parish Hall and dedication of the Parish Cemetery in 1908. The parish remains active and vibrant, and together with the surrounding areas, bears witness to the acculturation of the Czech-Slovak immigrants into American society. This site is listed on the Virginia and National Register of Historical Places, February 8, 2012.
(Agriculture • Churches, Etc. • Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
Beginning in the late 1880's, this region of Prince George County along the Norfolk & Western Railway became the center of the first largest settlement of Czech and Slovak immigrants in Virginia. Originally known as Wells Station, then Estes, it was renamed New Bohemia in 1911 at the request of those settlers. Forming a community of homes, general stores, a church, hotel, school and neighborhood meeting hall, this small group of agrarian immigrants reclaimed and restored 12,000 acres of farmland left barren following the Civil War. In the 21st Century, many of the original family farms nearby continue to contribute to local growth and economy.On the adjacent 12 acre site, deeded to the Diocese of Richmond by Marie O. Hanzlik, 29 Czech families (which included Josef Machat, Sr., leading Czech settler in Virginia) established the first Czech Catholic Parish in the Commonwealth. The initial church building was dedicated in 1906, followed by the erection of the Parish Hall and dedication of the Parish Cemetery in 1908. The parish remains active and vibrant, and together with the surrounding areas, bears witness to the acculturation of the Czech-Slovak immigrants into American society. This site is listed on the Virginia and National Register of Historical Places, February 8, 2012.
(Agriculture • Churches, Etc. • Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
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A mission was organized in Mount Pleasant in 1876, and in 1882 the present building was begun. Local businessman William N. Brown contributed most of the building funds, and the bricks and lumber were made in his plants. The interior design of St. John's was adopted from a chapel on the English estate of the Duke of Devonshire. The Rt. Rev. George D. Gillespie consecrated the church in a three-hour ceremony on January 10, 1884, after which parishioners repaired to a local hotel for a ten-course dinner.
Built about 1865 this oldest remaining house in Mt. Pleasant was purchased by Wilkinson Doughty in 1869. An early hardware and dry goods merchant, Doughty was a town trustee, and a founder of Central Michigan Normal School, now Central Michigan University. A carefully preserved example of balloon frame pioneer architecture, the house has remained in the family since Doughty's death in 1909. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
In 1889, Sacred Heart Academy was organized as a school for St. Charles Church, which was established in 1872. That year a new church was built here and the parish was renamed Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Father John J. Crowley moved the old church to an adjacent lot and used it as a school, which was run by Dominican Sisters. Saginaw architect Clarence W. Cowles designed this building, constructed in 1908. The addition was built in 1955; the elementary school in 1964.
In 1787-1788 copper for horse head pennies mined here and minted nearby by Walter Mould at John Cleves Symmes’ home. “Solitude” house later became tavern, Wheatsheaf Inn.
Earliest known black church in Madison. The African Union was deeded property 1850, succeeded by First African Methodist Episcopal Church at present site. Rebuilt 1905.
Successor to South Hanover First Presbyterian Meeting House which stood across street on hill in cemetery. Acquired by Masonic Lodge 1930.
Originally called the Wilson Theatre, this building was completed in 1928 with funds provided by Matilda Wilson (Mrs. Alfred G.), William E. Kapp of Smith, Hinchman & Grylls, an architectural firm whose works dominated the city's skyline of the 1920's, designed this ArtDeco style edifice. Terra-cotta Greek masks adorn the exterior, and elaborate molded plaster and stenciling complement the interior. The Theatre's purpose of offering legitimate productions was initially fulfilled, but during the Depression its lights dimmed except for sporadic occasions. From 1946 to 1949, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra occupied the structure which was renamed Music Hall. Area residents came here in the 1950s and 1960s to see Cinerama and other films. Now the home of the Music Hall Center and the Michigan Opera Theatre, Music Hall is restored to its original use and appearance.
Legislator, judge, newspaperman. Came to Texas from Arkansas. Member 1861 Texas Secession Convention. Chosen delegate to provisional Confederate Congress, Montgomery, Ala. Sent Arkansas to work for secession by Jefferson Davis 1861. Texas Confederate Senator 1862-1865. Influential defender of of states rights, he opposed centralized conscription and granting president power to suspend writ of habeas corpus.
Oldham County's first physician. A civic leader, weather researcher and humanitarian. Born in Kansas, he attended medical school in Missouri, and in 1907 moved to Vega with his wife, Lulu Mills Loyd. 
Contains one of the famous Boot Hill cemeteries of wild west days and was the gathering place for pleasure-seeking cowboys, gamblers and "bad men" of the Panhandle in the 1870s and '80s. Outlaws such as Billy the Kid and lawmen like Pat Garrett and Bat Masterson walked its streets.
What came to be known as the Fort Smith - Santa Fe Trail was first blazed in 1840 by Josiah Gregg, a trader seeking a route to Santa Fe along the south side of the Canadian River. In 1849, Gregg's route was closely followed by a military escort led by Capt. Randolph B. Marcy (1812-1857). Marcy's group traveled from Fort Smith, Arkansas to Santa Fe with about 500 pioneers heading for California. The party entered Oldham County on June 13th, and on June 14th ascended to the Llano Estacado near this site. Reaching the top, Marcy found the plains "as boundless...and trackless as the ocean...a desolate waste of uninhabited solitude."
Facilities
An important example of turn-of-the-century domestic architecture, the home of Thomas Brown and Mary Josephine (Spencer) Ramey was crafted of virgin cypress and southern heart pine in 1903. The architectural style of the house is typical of the revival interest in colonial American history and the late 19th century classical movement. Thomas Boyd Ramey (1892-1967), a prominent local attorney and founder of Tyler's rose festival, lived in the home with his family until his death.
Originally known as the Administration Building, Old Main and an adjacent structure, Pioneer Hall, were actually older than Alma College. Completed early in 1886, the buildings were to constitute the Central Michigan Normal School and Business College. However, that venture failed and in autumn of the same year they were given by Mr. Ammi W. Wright to the Synod of Michigan of the United Presbyterian Church so that it might establish Alma College. For the first 83 years of the College's history, Old Main was the principal classroom building. It was destroyed by fire on March 10, 1969.
