The chapel was built during rough and tumble times in rural Texas, where some of the first “residents” being the outlaw Criswell brothers and others had settled along Mulberry creek in what was referred to locally as “Hottentot."

This sparsely settled niche in southwestern Fayette County was the frontier settlement home of Bohemian immigrants named Mathias and Anton Novak, who had landed in Galveston in 1854.  The Novaks along with others migrated to the Hottentot area, where a log home built by Mathias was used by approximately eight local families to celebrate early masses. In 1858 the Bohemian settlers changed the community’s name to Praha in honor of Prague, the capital of their Bohemian homeland.  

But a chapel was needed.  Built with few resources other than their inspiration, in 1865 local residents constructed the dry-stacked sandstone structure which measures 17 by 15 feet.  Walls approximately 18 inches thick have played a role in keeping the structure standing for over 142 years and withstanding various occupants and diverse uses.  The chapel had only one window on the south side of the structure.  A niche in the north wall may originally have been used to display a crucifix or other religious objects.  For many recent decades, the niche has contained a framed picture of the Last Supper.

Framed picture of the Last Supper

Population growth in the Praha community was nipped in the bud, when in1873 the Southern Pacific Railroad built tracks a mile north of the community.  Flatonia, a new town founded near the tracks and approximately 3 miles to the west, began to draw business away from Praha.  During the twentieth century the population of Praha never rose above 100, and by 1968 the population had dwindled to twenty-five, where it remains to this day.  A shift of population away from Praha and declining community activity just may have been an unseen hand in saving this humble historic property. 

Today the chapel is located on private land, whose owners are excited about a preservation/rehabilitation project for the chapel.

The Downtown Water Tower Committee completed its work and delivered its options report to the Flatonia city council in December. The report could not make any one specific recommendation to council but instead they gave four viable options. The city council will have to do additional research in order to reach an informed decision.

- Keep the water tower in city control and apply for the appropriate grants. There are grants that the city can apply for to help defray the maintenance costs.

- Sell or gift the water tower to a private entity. Selling or gifting the water tower to a private organization to own and maintain could be done with specific limitations and conditions. The city might specify, for example, conditions of use so as to ensure that the tower is preserved as a landmark.

- Retain ownership of the water tower and allow a private organization to maintain and repair the tower: with certain and specific limitations.

- Transfer ownership of the water to a private organization to maintain while keeping the insurance on the tower under the umbrella of the municipality. The agreement between the city and the Rail Park group might be a model for such an agreement.

At the January 8, 2008, meeting of the Flatonia city council, the council passed a motion that the city of Flatonia retain, maintain, and operate the downtown water tower as a source of public water supply, and when it is no longer in the city’s interest to maintain the tower for that single purpose, the city shall first approach the Flatonia Landmark Preservation Society to negotiate with the city whereby the tower is preserved as a historic landmark.