Slovak (originally known as Slovactown or Slovaktown) is an unincorporated community in Prairie County, Arkansas, United States. Slovak is located on Arkansas Highway 86 south of Hazen. It is the only municipality in the United States named after the European country of

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. The area was originally settled by Slovak immigrants and continues to celebrate its Slovak-American heritage.

History

The community was founded in 1894 and settled by Slovak immigrants who were drawn to the area when the Slovak Colonization Company in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

bought 3,000 acres of land in Arkansas to colonize the area with Slovaks. There are still many Slovak cultural, fraternal and religious organizations in the community, and there is an annual Slovak Oyster Supper and other Slovak cultural events. The Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius (who are also known as the Apostles of the Slavs) was built in 1914 by the early Slovak immigrants.Woods, James W. Mission and Memory: A History of the Catholic Church in Arkansas. Little Rock: August House, 1993.

References

Unincorporated communities in Prairie County, Arkansas Unincorporated communities in Arkansas Slovak-American history {{PrairieCountyAR-geo-stub