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Though traveling to some areas will soon be easier than ever, Europe may still feel like it’s a world away. For a more local European experience, Texas’ “Little Czechia” is just a 1.5-hour drive away from Downtown, Houston.
Nestled in the rolling hills along the Colorado River, La Grange was founded in 1837 by “The Original Three Hundred”. Shortly thereafter, the Texas town saw an influx of Czech, German, and Moravian immigrants, who helped sculpt the town’s wonderful cultural landscape that lives on today.
Nowadays, the town and greater Fayette County lives on as the heart of Texas Czech country the largest population of Czechs per capita in Texas – home to the Texas Czech Heritage and Cultural Center, the state’s oldest meadery, and some of the best kolaches you’ll eat in the Lonestar State.
Photo via Wiki Commons
A Guide to Visiting La Grange
For visitors spending a day in La Grange, there’s a number of stops you need to make. First and foremost, breakfast. In a town famed for its kolaches, there are a number of options to get your fix. Most notably, Weikel’s Bakery and Lukas Bakery. Both serve as pillars of the Czech pastry, offering authentic, from-scratch kolaches. While the venues specialize in traditional kolaches – the sweet kind – either offer the savory klobasniky – the meat-filled kind that many of us (including yours truly) mislabel as “kolaches”.
Once satiated with kolaches, be sure to visit the Texas Czech Heritage and Culture Center. The multi-faceted complex features a”Czech Village” home to historic relocated family homes, a sawmill, and 1900s-era barn. Additionally, the venue houses handmade folk wear, traditional musical instruments, as well as Melnar Library.
One of the most renowned architectural feats in La Grange is the Fayette County Courthouse. Completed in 1891, the courthouse designed by J. Riely Gordon features some of the finest Romanesque Revival architecture in Texas. The venue is home to the The Texas Heroes museum, which features a rich collection of military articles and stories of Texas revolutionary soldiers.
Photo via Blissful Folly Farm
Before you’re all tapped out, cap off your visit at Blissful Folly Farm. Home to La Grange Brewing Co. and Rohan Meadery – the latter the state’s oldest meadery. Here, the farm combines the Old World with the new, offering award-winning honey-fermented beverages from the before times alongside handcrafted IPAs and ciders, charcuterie boards, and artisanal pizzas.
For more European architecture, take a short drive from La Grange to the nearby towns of Praha, High Hill, and/or Dubina for the Painted Churches.
While renowned for its famed culture and heritage, La Grange was in large part put on the map by legendary Houston rock outfit, ZZ Top. Their 1973 release La Grange, was itself inspired by the famed Chicken Ranch brothel outside the city. The Chicken Ranch was the basis of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas broadway musical and subsequent film adaptation.