Agua Dulce History
Secretary of the supreme office and Pauline Peter, secretary of the K.J.Z.T., being present. At this time Mr. & Mrs. Karel, and Emilie Spiack were awarded a Cross of Merit for having given four sons and five daughters to these societies.
Farming around Agua Dulce is carried on a large scale. Most of the land is owned by people living in town and cities and the lands are leased out. Of the Czech people, Antonin Ermis owns some 350 acres; his neighbor Joseph Stuchly owns 300 acres, and to this day his wife Mrs. Winne Stuchly is a very active member of the community and the Parish.
In 1928, a seminarian, Henry Pencil had been teaching catechism during summer vacation time. Presently, Father Henry Psenick is in Inez, Texas. At the beginning of the 1939, a new Catholic Hall was erected. All manual labor was donated by the parishioners. John Sablatura supervised the work. The builder was I.B. Vrana from Robstown.
The church building cost about $3,600 in addition to the manual labor and hauling of building materials donated by the zealous parishioners. At present, the parish is free of debt and some more landed property was acquired for a rectory and school. The Altar Society of St. Frances donated all the necessary linens and vestments for the church.. On October 21, 1934, a branch of the K.J.T. was organized with the help of A. J. Kallus, president and W. J. Janecka, Secretary of the supreme office and Pauline Peter, secretary of the K.J.Z.T., being present. At this time Mr. & Mrs. Karel, and Emilie Spiack were awarded a Cross of Merit for having given four sons and five daughters to these societies.
Farming around Agua Dulce is carried on a large scale. Most of the land is owned by people living in town and cities and the lands are leased out. Of the Czech people, Antonin Ermis owns some 350 acres; his neighbor Joseph Stuchly owns 300 acres, and to this day his wife Mrs. Winne Stuchly is a very active member of the community and the Parish. In 1928, a seminarian, Henry Pencil had been teaching catechism during summer vacation time. Presently, Father Henry Psenick is in Inez, Texas.
At the beginning of the 1939, a new Catholic Hall was erected. All manual labor was donated by the parishioners. John Sablatura supervised the work. The builder was I.B. Vrana from Robstown.
Some more history: the following was taken from the Texas State Historical Association web site
AGUA DULCE, TEXAS. Agua Dulce is located on the Texas Mexican Railway at the intersection of Farm Road 70 and State Highway 44 in west central Nueces County. The name, Spanish for "sweet water," refers to a nearby creek. The settlement existed by the 1900s. In August 1908 the post office was established with James L. Petray as postmaster. In 1910 the Agua Dulce Independent School District was founded; Sophinia Thompson was the first teacher. The school system was consolidated with that of Bentonville in 1932. Agua Dulce profited from an oil boom in the 1930s. The first seismographic survey done in Nueces County was done in Agua Dulce by E. E. Rosaire. Several gas wells are located there, as well as the Agua Dulce oilfield, which was opened in 1928. In 1914 the population of Agua Dulce was 100, and the town had a general store, a lumber mill, a cotton gin, a blacksmith, a confectioner, and a grocer. Between 1940 and 1945 the population increased from 200 to 750. In 1961 thirty businesses were in operation. In 1990 the population was 996, and Aqua Dulce had nine businesses.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Nueces County Historical Society, History of Nueces County (Austin: Jenkins, 1972). Vertical Files, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin.
Robin Dush
"AGUA DULCE, TX." The Handbook of Texas Online.
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/AA/hla8.html