Hostyn

Hostyn overlooks the Colorado River near La Grange in central Fayette County. In the 1830s the community, then called Bluff, was settled by German settlers. Father Michael Muldoon celebrated Mass in a dwelling at Bluff in the spring of 1831. In November 1856 a group of Czech families arrived at Bluff. Among them were Joseph Janda, Alois and Benjamin Klimicek, Valentin Kolibal, František Koza, and František Marak. The Czechs that moved to Bluff and those that founded Dubina came over on the same ship. During the Civil War John Lidiak, a Bluff resident, was hauling a wagonload of cotton to Mexico when he met friends in Brownsville who talked him into joining the Union Army; meanwhile his father, Joseph Lidiak, fought with the Confederate Army. Both came home to Bluff after the war and lived together on the farm. The two men are buried side by side in the parish cemetery and were honored by the United States government with two Civil War cannons.

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.