The history of Greeks in Baltimore dates back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Baltimore is home to one of the largest Greek American communities in the United States. The community is centered in the Greektown and Highlandtown neighborhoods of East Baltimore.
In 1920, 699 foreign-born White people in Baltimore spoke the Greek language. [1]
In 1940, around 1,200 Greek Americans lived in Baltimore. [2] In the same year 1,193 immigrants from Greece lived in Baltimore. These immigrants comprised 2% of the city's foreign-born white population. [3]
The Greek community in the Baltimore metropolitan area numbered 16,764 as of 2000, making up 0.7 percent of the area's population. [4] In the same year Baltimore city's Greek population was 2,693, 0.4% of the city's population. [5]
In 2013, an estimated 2,611 Greek Americans resided in Baltimore city, 0.4% of the population. [6]
As of September 2014, immigrants from Greece were the twenty-fourth largest foreign-born population in Baltimore and the Greek language was the ninth most commonly spoken language other than English. [7]
The first Greeks in Baltimore were nine young boys who arrived as refugees of the Chios Massacre, the slaughter of tens of thousands of Greeks on the island of Chios at the hands of the Ottomans during the Greek War of Independence. [2]
Immigrants from Greece first started to settle in Baltimore in large numbers during the 1890s. [8]
Early Greek settlers established the Greek Orthodox Church “Evangelismos” in 1906 and the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation in 1909. [8]
By the 1920s, a vibrant yet small Greek community had been firmly established. The St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church was built to serve this growing community. [9] Because there was no direct steamship service from the Mediterranean to the port of Baltimore, many Greek immigrants came by train, often from New York City. [10]
The peak of the Greek migration to Baltimore was between the 1930s and the 1950s. [11] The Greek community gained its first political representation in 1959, when Peter Angelos became the first Greek American to be elected to the Baltimore City Council.
The Greek population saw another smaller surge in numbers after the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which allowed for the immigration of thousands of Greeks. This wave of Greek immigrants to Baltimore ended by the early 1980s. During the 1980s the Greek residents of the neighborhood that was then known simply as the Hill successfully petitioned the city government to rename the neighborhood as Greektown. By that time the Greek community was 25,000 strong. [12]
While there is still a strong Greek-American presence in Greektown and Highlandtown, the population of the Greek community has been declining. The population is aging and many have moved out of the original Greek neighborhoods. The Latino population is increasing rapidly as the Greek population decreases. [13] [14] [15] The majority of newcomers to the neighborhood are now Latino. [16]
There are a number of Greek-American restaurants in Baltimore, such as Ikaros, The Acropolis, The Black Olive, Samos, and Zorba's. There is also an annual Greek Folk Festival held at Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church.
Baltimore historically had a Greek mafia presence. A two-year FBI investigation into a cocaine ring run by the Greek mafia in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. resulted in charges being filed in August 1987. [17]
Most Greek Americans in Baltimore belong to the Greek Orthodox Church, though a small minority have been Greek Jews. Most Greek Jews immigrated to the city during the early 1950s. The majority came from Thessaloniki, with the remainder mostly coming from Athens and Patras. The Greek Jews of Baltimore are primarily Sephardi. There are few Sephardim in Baltimore and there is no formal Greek synagogue or organization, so Sephardi Greek Jews have mostly joined the Ashkenazi community and have adopted many Ashkenazi customs. However, the Greek Jews of Baltimore have tended to preserve Greek Sephardi Orthodox naming customs and Greek Sephardi cuisine. During the Passover seder, Baltimore's Greek Jews traditionally serve hard-boiled eggs, avgolemono with lamb and matzah balls, latkes, and almond paste. [18]
Greektown in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is an area in the Kitsilano neighborhood that was historically an enclave of Greek immigrants and their descendants. The term is an informal one, and Greektown's borders are not strictly defined; however, West Broadway around Trutch Street is generally considered the neighbourhood's heart, while Blenheim St to the west and MacDonald St to the east are approximately its outer limits. Vancouverites of Greek descent, who live in Kitsilano, nostalgically also call the area Ουέστ Μπροντουέι.
Greektown is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Greeks or people of Greek ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood.
Canton is a historic waterfront neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The neighborhood is along Baltimore's outer harbor in the southeastern section of the city, roughly two miles east of Baltimore's downtown district and next to or near the neighborhoods of Patterson Park, Fell's Point, Highlandtown, and Brewers Hill.
Greektown is a neighborhood located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States.
Highlandtown is a neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, United States.
The Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation is a church of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America located in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the oldest of the 18 Greek Orthodox parishes in Maryland. The cathedral is an important center of Greek-American culture in Baltimore, and hosts an annual Greek Food Festival.
The history of the Germans in Baltimore began in the 17th century. During the 19th century, the Port of Baltimore was the second-leading port of entry for immigrants, after Ellis Island in New York City. Many Germans immigrated to Baltimore during this time.
The history of Czechs in Baltimore dates back to the mid-19th century. Thousands of Czechs immigrated to East Baltimore during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, becoming an important component of Baltimore's ethnic and cultural heritage. The Czech community has founded a number of cultural institutions to preserve the city's Czech heritage, including a Roman Catholic church, a heritage association, a gymnastics association, an annual festival, a language school, and a cemetery. During the height of the Czech community in the late 19th century and early 20th century, Baltimore was home to 12,000 to 15,000 people of Czech birth or heritage. The population began to decline during the mid-to-late 20th century, as the community assimilated and aged, while many Czech Americans moved to the suburbs of Baltimore. By the 1980s and early 1990s, the former Czech community in East Baltimore had been almost entirely dispersed, though a few remnants of the city's Czech cultural legacy still remain.
The history of Poles in Baltimore dates back to the late 19th century. The Polish community is largely centered in the neighborhoods of Canton, Fell's Point, Locust Point, and Highlandtown. Poles are the largest Slavic ethnic group in the city and one of the largest European ethnic groups.
There have been a variety of ethnic groups in Baltimore, Maryland and its surrounding area for 12,000 years. Prior to European colonization, various Native American nations have lived in the Baltimore area for nearly 3 millennia, with the earliest known Native inhabitants dating to the 10th millennium BCE. Following Baltimore's foundation as a subdivision of the Province of Maryland by British colonial authorities in 1661, the city became home to numerous European settlers and immigrants and their African slaves. Since the first English settlers arrived, substantial immigration from all over Europe, the presence of a deeply rooted community of free black people that was the largest in the pre-Civil War United States, out-migration of African-Americans from the Deep South, out-migration of White Southerners from Appalachia, out-migration of Native Americans from the Southeast such as the Lumbee and the Cherokee, and new waves of more recent immigrants from Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa have added layers of complexity to the workforce and culture of Baltimore, as well as the religious and ethnic fabric of the city. Baltimore's culture has been described as "the blending of Southern culture and [African-American] migration, Northern industry, and the influx of European immigrants—first mixing at the port and its neighborhoods...Baltimore’s character, it’s uniqueness, the dialect, all of it, is a kind of amalgamation of these very different things coming together—with a little Appalachia thrown in...It’s all threaded through these neighborhoods", according to the American studies academic Mary Rizzo.
The history of Russians in Baltimore dates back to the mid-19th century. The Russian community is a growing population and constitutes a major source of new immigrants to the city. Historically the Russian community was centered in East Baltimore, but most Russians now live in Northwest Baltimore's Arlington neighborhood and in Baltimore's suburb of Pikesville.
The history of Ukrainians in Baltimore dates back to the mid-19th century. Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C. have the largest Ukrainian-American communities in the Mid-Atlantic.
The history of Lithuanians in Baltimore dates back to the mid-19th century. Thousands of Lithuanians immigrated to Baltimore between the 1880s and 1920s. The Lithuanian American community was mainly centered in what is now the Hollins–Roundhouse Historic District. Baltimore's Lithuanian community has founded several institutions to preserve the Lithuanian heritage of the city, including a Roman Catholic parish, a cultural festival, a dance hall, and a yeshiva.
The history of Hispanics and Latinos in Baltimore dates back to the mid-20th century. The Hispanic and Latino community of Baltimore is the fastest growing ethnic group in the city. There is a significant Hispanic/Latino presence in many Southeast Baltimore neighborhoods, particularly Highlandtown, Upper Fell's Point, and Greektown. Overall Baltimore has a small but growing Hispanic population, primarily in the Southeast portion of the area from Fells Point to Dundalk.
The history of Italians in Baltimore dates back to the mid-19th century. The city's Italian-American community is centered in the neighborhood of Little Italy.
The history of the Irish in Baltimore dates back to the early and mid-19th century. The city's Irish-American community is centered in the neighborhoods of Hampden, Canton, Highlandtown, Fell's Point and Locust Point.
The history of White Americans in Baltimore dates back to the 17th century when the first white European colonists came to what is now Maryland and established the Province of Maryland on what was then Native American land. White Americans in Baltimore are Baltimoreans "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East or North Africa." Majority white for most of its history, Baltimore no longer had a white majority by the 1970s. As of the 2010 Census, white Americans are a minority population of Baltimore at 29.6% of the population. White Americans have played a substantial impact on the culture, dialect, ethnic heritage, history, politics, and music of the city. Since the earliest English settlers arrived on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, Baltimore's white population has been sustained by substantial immigration from all over Europe, particularly Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and Southern Europe, as well as a large out-migration of White Southerners from Appalachia. Numerous white immigrants from Europe and the European diaspora have immigrated to Baltimore from the United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Italy, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine, Spain, France, Canada, and other countries, particularly during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Smaller numbers of white people have immigrated from Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, North Africa, and other non-European regions. Baltimore also has a prominent population of white Jews of European descent, mostly with roots in Central and Eastern Europe. There is a smaller population of white Middle Easterners and white North Africans, most of whom are Arab, Persian, Israeli, or Turkish. The distribution of White Americans in Central and Southeast Baltimore is sometimes called "The White L", while the distribution of African Americans in East and West Baltimore is called "The Black Butterfly."
The city of Baltimore, Maryland includes a small Syrian population. The Syrian-American community is centered in East Baltimore. While Syrian-Americans have had a presence in Baltimore for over a century, most Syrians in Baltimore are recent immigrants and refugees who have fled the Syrian Civil War.
The city of Baltimore, Maryland includes a large and growing Caribbean-American population. The Caribbean-American community is centered in West Baltimore. The largest non-Hispanic Caribbean populations in Baltimore are Jamaicans, Trinidadians and Tobagonians, and Haitians. Baltimore also has significant Hispanic populations from the Spanish West Indies, particularly Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and Cubans. Northwest Baltimore is the center of the West Indian population of Baltimore, while Caribbean Hispanics in the city tend to live among other Latinos in neighborhoods such as Greektown, Upper Fell's Point, and Highlandtown. Jamaicans and Trinidadians are the first and second largest West Indian groups in the city, respectively. The neighborhoods of Park Heights and Pimlico in northwest Baltimore are home to large West Indian populations, particularly Jamaican-Americans.
The city of Baltimore, Maryland includes a small Ethiopian population. The Ethiopian-American community is centered in central Baltimore, particularly in Baltimore's historic Chinatown. This neighborhood is home to many Ethiopian businesses, including restaurants, a café, and a market. The enclave, located on the 300 block of Park Avenue, is sometimes referred to as Baltimore's Little Ethiopia.
1920 Baltimore Greek.
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