The Church of the Sacred Heart Parish located in Prince George County, is the solitary remaining landmark of New Bohemia, a community first settled in 1887 by Czech immigrants who were mostly farmers. Using European methods of fertilization and crop rotation, they restored devastated farmlands after the Civil War. The old Parish Hall and adjacent cemetery date from 1906-08 and are associated with the earliest church on the site, constructed in 1906, soon after land was deeded to the Diocese of Richmond. Serving as the center of the Czech community, the church complex offered a meeting place and social hall for celebrating Czech music, dances, and heritage. Worship services there were conducted in the Czech language until the mid-20th century. Today’s church was completed in 1951. Most of the homes, farms, and other structures of New Bohemia were destroyed by highway construction and developments around the community during the latter 20th century.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia