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St. John the Baptist Catholic Cemetery was established February 29, 1888 upon purchase of land from Neill M. and Anthoria (Clayton) McKinnon. The original piece of land for the Church and School was purchased from Johann Klesel for $5.00 on October 2, 1882. A beautiful two-story school was the first building erected on the land; the church was not built until 1888. Before that, the Czech people of the community went to Praha to attend mass while the Germans went to High Hill. Occasionally a priest would journey to St. John's to say mass in the home of Johann Klesel.
In 1998, there were 659 grave markers in the cemetery; those in the west half face east while those in the east half face west. The majority of the graves are marked with a variety of beautiful tombstones, some with marble angels. The cemetery cross was donated in 1944 by Mr. and Mrs. Joe G. Havrda in memory of their son, Joe C. Havrda. There are fifty-seven unknown graves in the cemetery.
Fayette County History