Krasna Settlement

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Krasna Settlement in Fort Bend County. Now, the name itself is a promising start. Krasna means beautiful in the Czech language, and somebody thought enough of that word to hang it on a community taking shape out here in the early 1890s.

Whether the land lived up to that name, well, that's a story with a few chapters. It begins with a man named Francis Smith. In 1891, Smith subdivided and sold property in this area.

Then, in 1892, he gave four acres, set aside specifically for a school and a church, to serve the Czech settlers who were forming this community. Four acres, freely given. That same year, local families came together and built a school.

The school didn't stay small or stay still for long. In 1893, it became part of the Orchard Common School District. By 1894, the community had its own designation entirely, the Krasna District, and that district included Connersville School, which served African American students.

The settlement was growing, branching out. Two more schools, Moravia and Central, were later built to keep pace. But here's where the story turns, and the land has something to say about it.

Flooding and storms came. They have a way of wearing a community down over time, and that's exactly what happened. Settlers were drawn toward the Catholic Church at nearby Wallis, over in Austin County.

The community at Krasna declined. And that church Francis Smith set aside those four acres for? It was never built.

There was never a church at Krasna. The acres were given, the intention was real, but the church never came. Beautiful is a word that carries some weight when a place doesn't quite become what it set out to be.

Krasna gave its settlers schools, a name, a district, and a start. The rest, the storms took.

What the marker says

Krasna Settlement In 1891, Francis Smith subdivided and sold property in this area. In 1892, he gave four acres for a school and church for Czech settlers forming the community of Krasna, which means beautiful in the Czech language. That year, local families built a school, and in 1893, it became part of Orchard Common School District. By 1894, it was part of the Krasna District, which included Connersville School for African American students. Two additional schools, Moravia and Central, were later built. Flooding and storms caused a decline of the settlement, and the Catholic Church at nearby Wallis (Austin County) attracted settlers; there was never a church at Krasna. (2003)