Czech Ennis: Polka, Kolaches & the Bluebonnet City

When the Houston & Texas Central built Ennis in 1872, it needed hands for the shops and the cotton fields — and starting in 1873 and 1874, Czech and Moravian families answered. The first, the Sebesta family, came in 1873 from the old country near Ceske Budejovice; hundreds followed, until Ennis became one of the most thoroughly Czech towns in Texas. They brought a saint's name for their church, a brass-and-button-box sound for their dances, and a sweet fruit-filled pastry — the kolache — that the whole town now claims. Today Ennis bills itself as the Bluebonnet City and throws the National Polka Festival every May, when three Czech dance halls fill with accordions. This walking route through downtown follows that heritage: the museum that keeps the folk costumes, the church the immigrants raised, the bakery that still rolls the dough, and the festival streets where the polka comes back to life.