McCook Community
McCook, Hidalgo County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Named for a local storekeeper, this community was settled by descendants of the pioneers who in 1854 founded Panna Maria, Texas, the oldest Polish colony in the United States. Urban Kotzur, his son Leon, and their neighbor Frank Prukop bought land in this area in 1925 and the Kotzur family was the first to move here in 1926. Soon other families arrived to clear the brush land and begin cultivation. The farming village had a post office for several years during the 1930s. A school was started in 1929, and Immaculate Conception Catholic Church was built in 1950. (1979)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
McCook was settled in the 1920s by descendants of the Polish colonists who founded Panna Maria in 1854—the oldest Polish settlement in the United States. Urban Kotzur, his son Leon, and neighbor Frank Prukop bought land here in 1925, and the Kotzurs arrived in 1926 to clear the South Texas brush for farming. A post office, a school, and Immaculate Conception Catholic Church soon followed, extending a Polish-American community deep into the Rio Grande Valley.
Why it matters
It shows how a single immigrant community begun in 1854 kept branching across Texas, carrying Polish Catholic culture into new frontiers generations later.
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Related people
- · Urban Kotzur
- · Leon Kotzur
- · Frank Prukop
Themes & tags
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