Located on land once included in Stephen F. Austin's colony, Nada was first settled in the 1880s by German and Czech immigrants. John William Schoellmann brought his family here from nearby Frelsburg in 1881 and built the area's first store, which was operated by his son, John Henry Schoellmann. Other early settlers included the families of Joseph Labay, Florian Frnka, Gerhard Eggemeyer, Ernest Krenek, Joseph Schneider, and Diedrich Frels. A public school known as Red Bluff opened in 1883. In 1889 the Schoellmann and Labay families donated land for a Catholic church and parochial school. The Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built in 1896 and has served as a center of community activities since that time. A U.S. post office was established in 1894 with William Engbrock as postmaster, and the town was named Nada. By 1904 the community had homes, schools, stores, a church, cotton gin, and dance hall. Nada has remained an agricultural community, and many descendants of the pioneer German and Czech settlers continue to live in the area.