Bohemia Historical Society
The Old Country: Czechoslovakia
The homeland our founding families left behind
The Heart of Europe
To understand the founders of Bohemia, New York, we must first look to the turbulent history of central Europe. The first settlers on Long Island came from the region that is now the modern Czech Republic.
Historically, this area was divided into three distinct lands: Bohemia, Moravia, and Slovakia. The name “Bohemia” derives from the Boii, an ancient Celtic tribe that inhabited the area long before the common era. By the 9th century, the Slavic Czechs had established a unified, powerful kingdom. While the native inhabitants proudly call their homeland “Čechy” (pronounced Chekh-ee), the outside world has known it for centuries by its Latinized name: Bohemia.
A History of Upheaval and Independence
Because of its strategic location in the center of Europe, the region has a long history of being conquered, divided, and reborn — upheavals that ultimately drove our pioneer families to seek freedom in America.
1620
The Habsburg Rule
Following the Battle of White Mountain, the Czech lands were forcibly incorporated into the Catholic Austro-Hungarian Empire, suppressing local culture and the Czech language for nearly 300 years. It was this autocratic rule that the founding Vavra and Kratochvil families were fleeing when they emigrated in the 1850s.
1918
The Birth of Czechoslovakia
Following the defeat of Germany and the Austrian Empire in World War I, the map of Europe was redrawn. Bohemia, Moravia, and Slovakia were finally liberated and united into the new, democratic nation of Czechoslovakia.
1939–1989
Occupation & The Cold War
This free existence was tragically short-lived. In 1939, Hitler’s armies occupied Bohemia and Moravia. Following World War II, the country briefly regained its status before falling to a Communist coup in 1948, becoming a satellite state of the Soviet Union behind the Iron Curtain for 40 years.
1989–1993
The Velvet Revolution & Divorce
With the peaceful collapse of the Communist regime in 1989, democracy returned. In 1993, acknowledging deep-rooted national differences, Czechoslovakia peacefully separated into two independent nations: the Czech Republic and Slovakia (often called the “Velvet Divorce”).
Today, the Czech Republic covers roughly 30,450 square miles (about two-thirds the size of New York State) and has a population of 11 million. Its capital, Prague — famous for the Old Town Square, the Charles Bridge, and St. Vitus Cathedral — remains one of the most culturally significant cities in the world.
1850s–1914
The Great Migration to Long Island
The greatest period of immigration from central Europe to the United States occurred between the 1850s and the outbreak of World War I. Fleeing political suppression and seeking economic opportunity, Czech immigrants primarily entered the U.S. through the ports of New York (Castle Garden and later Ellis Island), Baltimore, and Galveston, Texas.
For the first 100 years of its existence (from 1855 to the post-WWII housing boom), nearly every resident of Bohemia, Long Island, was either a Czech immigrant or a direct descendant.
The Origins of the Pioneers
The first three couples who settled in our village — the Vavras, Kratochvils, and Koulas — hailed from small farming villages west and southwest of Prague. One such representative community was Mnichovice, a historic village famous for its unique church pulpit carved into the shape of a massive whale.
1826–1906
1819–1905
Faces of the Old Country
The archives of the Bohemia Historical Society hold the stories of many individuals who made the arduous journey from the historic districts of Europe to the pine barrens of Long Island.
The Kovarik Family & Kutná Hora
Many who settled in Bohemia arrived from the district surrounding the ancient city of Kutná Hora. Since the 13th century, Kutná Hora had been one of the most important cities in Europe due to its massive silver mines; for centuries, its silver coin (the Prague Groschen) was the standard currency of central Europe, much like the modern Euro. The city is crowned by the magnificent St. Barbara’s Cathedral, dedicated to the patron saint of silver miners.
It was from a small village in this district, Malešov, that Jan and Albina (Knakal) Kovarik emigrated in 1895. The family had previously owned a successful mill in the shadow of the local church in Malešov, and Jan had served a grueling decade in the Austro-Hungarian army (1857–1867) before the family sought a new, peaceful life on Long Island.
1836–1907
1846–1931
Barbara (Kotek) Benedict
The immigrant story often involved profound family sacrifices. Barbara Kotek was born in a tiny Czech parish on June 4, 1861. At just 10 years old, she was sent by her mother across the Atlantic to live with the Vavra family in Bohemia, NY, seeking a better future. At the age of 18, she married Frank Benedict, another Czech immigrant living in Riverhead. Like many of their compatriots, they sustained their growing family by rolling handmade cigars. Barbara and Frank raised five children and lived out their lives in the village, eventually being buried in the Union Cemetery in the very same plot as the Vavras who had taken her in.
Preserving the Rural Past
The rural, agrarian lifestyle that our founders left behind in the mid-19th century is not entirely lost. Today, across the Czech Republic, historians have built Skanzens — expansive open-air folk museums that reconstruct and preserve traditional villages.
Similar to Old Bethpage Village Restoration on Long Island, these living history museums demonstrate what daily life, farming, and architecture were like in the Czech countryside during the great wave of immigration. These exhibits feature traditional wood-and-masonry homes, working mills, and village squares, offering a perfect window into the exact living conditions our pioneers experienced before boarding ships to America.
Today, the village of Bohemia has grown from a population of 1,200 in 1940 to over 11,000 modern residents. With the influx of new suburban development and intermarriage, Bohemia is now a rich, diverse tapestry of nationalities and races. Yet, a walk through the village or the Union Cemetery reveals streets and headstones still heavily dotted with the Czech names of the original pioneers — a permanent reminder of the resilient men and women who brought a piece of the “Old Country” to the shores of Long Island.