Nitra - History

The settlement of Nitra started out circa 1893 as a result to the number of families that arrived to the area due to the positive accomplishments in nearby Budapest. Ralph Lincoln Spencer, who was a real-estate developer invested heavily in the Tallapoosa area was now proving himself successful with the venture. The crops were yielding the fruits and they were plentiful because of the knowledge and hard work ethic of the immigrants working in the area. The local residents seemed happy enough and the surrounding towns of Waco, Tallapoosa and Bremen were becoming more prosperous as well.

This new wave of settlers was recruited to cultivate and manage the thriving vineyards in the region. Records and family histories mention several families arriving, including the Istvanko brothers, Jacob and Paul, who later established Tokai.

Nitra was predominantly inhabited by Slovak immigrants and was situated along the Old Sandtown Trail, now known as Old Ridgeway Road. Most residents hailed from the coalmining regions of Pennsylvania and shared Slovak heritage.

There were no stores or businesses within the Nitra community, therefore the residents relied on nearby Buchanan or traveling peddlers for supplies. A Catholic Church was established in 1895 as The Slovak Roman Catholic Church Congregation of Nitra, Georgia. A 10-acre parcel of land was donated to the church by the local Fruit Growers Association. This parcel was used to establish the Nitra Cemetery. The church was burned down and was never rebuilt. The remaining Nitra families joined in at Budapest for their church services.

Slovak traditions in the community of Nitra were kept as best as they could be including dishes like kapustnica, pagach, oplatky, hrudka or bobalky in the Christmas period.

After the Prohibition Act was introduced in Georgia the Slovaks within Nitra disappeared, leaving only Jacob, Paul and their children in the area.

The Nitra Cemetery is often referred to as being the Estavanko cemetery due to its predominantly Istvanko (Estevanko) burials. Graves in the Nitra Cemetery:

1. Mary Timan 2. Unmarked #1 3. Unmarked #2 4. Unmarked #3 5. Margaret Estavanko 6. Joseph Estavanko 7. Jacob Estavanko 8. Mary Estavanko 9. Adam Estavanko 10. Mary Estavanko 11. Joseph L. Estavanko 12. Paul Estavanko 13. Eula Estavanko 14. Thomas Riley Brooks 15. Helen E. Brooks

Mary Timon's grave says she was 102 years old when she died, but according to her papers and her death certificate she was 122 years old at her death.The three unmarked graves in the cemetery supposedly were that of a woman and her two children who drowned at Beech Creek in a flash flood.