The Volga Germans

Description: 

The Justus Bissing, Frederick Karlin, and
Frederick Koerner families stayed on this
site from March 1 till April 8 of 1876, while
they were building their sod dugouts in
nearby Katherinenstadt (Catherine). These
people were the first of nearly a
thousand German-speaking Catholics who
migrated to Ellis County from the Volga
River area of Russia during the late 1870's.
Other Volga-German villages formed
were Herzog, now Victoria (1876), Obermonjou,
which became Munjor (1876), Pfeifer (1876), and
Schoenchen (1877), as well as Liebenthal in
neighboring Rush County (1876).

The Trinity Lutheran Church stood on this
corner from 1879 till 1965, when St. Joseph's
Catholic Parish bought the church building
and put it to use as an axillary chapel.

Hays City, Kansas

LocationMem: 
On Fort Street, Hays, (On the right when traveling south)
Institution: 
City of Hays Kansas Convention & Visitors Bureau
Official/Unofficial: 
Official (Historical Marker Database)
Place Location: 
Files: 
Photo358454.jpg
Photo358455.jpg
Collection: 
Historical Marker Database Migration Collection