In 1911 some members of Holy Trinity Slovak Lutheran Church, Cleveland, Ohio, organized the Slavia Colony Company as an agency to help them establish a settlement in the area now traversed by Red Bug Lake Road, Mikler Road and State Road 426. Early in 1912 these recent immigrants from Slovakia moved here with the expectation of making homes for their children where there would be "less temptation of the world and the wickedness of the large city." Among the first settlers were the Dinda, Duda, Jakubcin, Lukas and Mikler families. Their first church building stood in what is now the cemetery off Chapman Road. Finding the land unsuited for citrus cultivation, they turned to celery farming. St. Luke's Lutheran Church and School and the Lutheran Haven Retirement Center are evidence of their success in establishing a religious haven in Florida. Many descendants of the original settlers still reside in the area.
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