Veseli takes its name from the eponymous hamlet in the modern day Czech Republic, much like the nearby New Prague. In fact, Veseli, Minnesota is very similarly located relative to New Prague as old Veseli is to old Prague. No doubt the farmers that founded Veseli had left New Prague and, having settled to the south and east, chose the name of the area where they would have arrived had they traveled the same direction from their home capital. Czech heritage is still alive and well in Veseli, visible in the Czech writing on the local church’s tombstones, and in the region at large. New Prague, Lonsdale, and Veseli represent a significant portion of Minnesota’s Czech population, which in turn is a large percentage of the US’ Czech-descended citizens. The county cannot be fully visualized or mapped without understanding its connections to Czech heritage.