Dubina, the first Czech settlement in Texas, is five miles east of Schulenburg in southern Fayette County. In November 1856, a group of Czech settlers found shelter from a strong north wind and hail under a grove of large oak trees in what is now Dubina. The next day the settlers built a shelter and, as the months progressed, planted crops; they made a total of one bale of cotton the first year, but through perseverance and hard work, the community prospered.

The community was first called Navidad and later Bohemian Navidad. Augustine Haidušek renamed it Dubina, Czech for "oak grove." As favorable reports about Texas reached the old country, the number of Czech settlers entering Dubina increased greatly, and Dubina became the stopover place for Czechs entering Texas.

In 1876 a Catholic church, the first in Dubina, was built on donated land. Later a school was also built on donated land. In 1900 the church served a parish of more than 600 families. In 1909 a hurricane destroyed the first church, and in 1912 the building was replaced. Dubina's social life revolved around the church, and a number of Catholic social organizations were established, including a Katoliká jednota texaská (Czech Catholic Union of Texas) lodge in 1887, a St. Ann's Society (1889), and a Cesko-rimská katolická podporující jednota zen texaskych (Czech-Roman Catholic Aid Union of Women in Texas) society (1900).

In 1873 the railroad bypassed Dubina, and in 1912 a fire caused extensive damage to the town; many settlers left the area. In the mid-1980s Dubina had a Catholic church, a community hall, a restaurant, several historical buildings, and many giant oak trees, one measuring twenty-six feet in circumference with a 110-foot spread. The population ranged from 160 to 500 in the late nineteenth century.

Excerpted and condensed from the “DUBINA, TX." The Handbook of Texas Online.  http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/

The Handbook of Texas Online is a joint project of The General Libraries
at the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas State Historical
Association.

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