Serbin

Serbin was a trilingual Wendish-German-English community founded in 1854 by 588 Wends under the leadership of the Rev. John Kilian. Kilian, an Evangelical Lutheran, named the place Serbin because the Wends were descendants of Serbs. The town thrived from 1865 to 1890, with grocery, dry goods, jewelry, drug, and music stores, as well as the shops of a wagon maker, blacksmith, and saddler, a post office, three doctors, and two dentists. Located on the Smithville-Houston oxcart road, it sent out cotton and other produce and hauled in staples. Its decline began about 1890 when railroads bypassed the settlement by several miles.

Texas · United States