Latium (pronounced "Latcham" or "Lotzyum"), is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Washington County,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 30 in 2000. It is located within the

Greater Houston Greater Houston, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land, is the fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States, encompassing nine counties along the Gulf Co ...

metropolitan area.

History

It was one of five

Latin colonies Latin rights (also Latin citizenship, Latin: ''ius Latii'' or ''ius latinum'') were a set of legal rights that were originally granted to the Latins (Latin: "Latini", the People of Latium, the land of the Latins) under Roman law in their origi ...

established in Texas after 1848 by

political refugee The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another ent ...

s from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Early German immigrants included civil engineer Hermann Rogalla von Bieberstein, who eventually became a well-known Texas surveyor and artist Rudolph Melchior, who adorned the Winedale Inn. In 1868,

Czechs The Czechs ( cs, Češi, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common ancestry, ...

landed in Latium. In 1873, Reverend Josef Chromik established a mission among Catholic Czech immigrants in Texas. A post office opened in 1884 and was shut down in 1907. 50 people were living in Latium in 1892. The Sacred Heart Catholic Church was constructed in 1918 by Czechs, who subsequently dominated the community; services were still held there until the late 1980s. For the majority of the 20th century, Latium acted as a supply hub for the surrounding agricultural region. Thirty people were living there, most of whom were Czech with a small number of Germans. At the time, Latium had a general store that also acted as a community center, a Catholic church, a Czech Catholic cemetery, a gas station, and a

volunteer fire department A volunteer fire department (VFD) is a fire department of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction. Volunteer and retained (on-call) firefighters are expected to be on call to respond ...

. The population was still 30 in 2000. It was also a German

Freethinking Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an epistemological viewpoint which holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and that beliefs should instead be reached by other methods ...

community.

Geography

Latium is located on Farm to Market Road 389 near Pond Creek, southwest of Brenham, south of Greenvine, and east of Round Top in the southwestern corner of Washington County.

Education

Latium had its own school from 1885 to 1948. Today, the community is served by the

Brenham Independent School District Brenham Independent School District is a public school district based in Brenham, Texas, US. While mostly located in Washington County, a very small portion of the district extends into Austin County. The district serves the City of Brenham and ...

References

Unincorporated communities in Washington County, Texas German-American culture in Texas Latin Settlement Unincorporated communities in Texas {{WashingtonCountyTX-geo-stub