Greektown is a neighborhood located in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

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. The neighborhood is bounded by Lombard Street to the north, O'Donnell Street to the south, South Haven to the west, and I-895 to the east. A long stretch of Eastern Avenue runs through the neighborhood.

Demographics

In 2014 Greektown was home to around 600 families. During the neighborhood's peak there were around 1,000 families.

History

Greektown has been home to a thriving Greek American community since the 1930s. Once known simply as The Hill, during the 1980s its residents petitioned the Baltimore City Council to change the name of the neighborhood to Greektown. A bridge shot in the

Barry Levinson Barry Lee Levinson (born April 6, 1942) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Levinson won the Academy Award for Best Director for '' Rain Man'' (1988). His other best-known works are ''Diner'' (1982), '' The Natural'' (1984 ...

film ''Diner'' (at the 21:51 mark) was filmed at Fleet Street and South Newkirk Street, with the Crown Cork and Seal building appearing in the background. Greektown underwent a revitalization effort beginning in 2001.

Today

As of 2010, Greektown is about 50.9% white, 22% Hispanic, 17.8% African American, 6.3% Asian, and about 3% all other. A thriving self-contained residential and business community consisting of single family town houses, Greektown is noted for its many restaurants, authentic

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

coffee houses, bakeries and small businesses of many types. It is a diverse community of largely blue-collar people of numerous ethnic derivations. Greektown is mostly Greek and other European descendants, but also includes large numbers of people of Native American, Asian,

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

and

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

(particularly

Puerto Ricans Puerto Ricans (), most commonly known as Puerto Rico#Etymology, Boricuas, but also occasionally referred to as '':es:Anexo:Gentilicios de Puerto Rico#Lista general, Borinqueños'', '':es:Anexo:Gentilicios de Puerto Rico#Lista general, Borincan ...

Mexicans Mexicans () are the citizens and nationals of the Mexico, United Mexican States. The Mexican people have varied origins with the most spoken language being Spanish language, Spanish, but many also speak languages from 68 different Languages o ...

Dominicans Dominicans () also known as Quisqueyans () are an ethnic group, ethno-nationality, national people, a people of shared ancestry and culture, who have ancestral roots in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican ethnic group was born out of a fusio ...

, and smaller numbers of

Guatemalans Guatemalans ( or less commonly ) are people connected to the country of Guatemala. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Guatemalans, several (if not all) of these connections exist. Guatemala is a multicultu ...

and

Salvadorans Salvadorans (), also known as Salvadorians, are citizens of El Salvador, a country in Central America. Most Salvadorans live in El Salvador, although there is also a significant Salvadoran diaspora, particularly in the United States, with smalle ...

) ancestry living in a low crime environment. The Greektown Community Development Corporation was formed to revitalize Greek town by The St Nicholas Church. The 1000 member church parish council unanimously voted to appoint Col John E Gavrilis as its first Executive Director. Under his leadership a strategic plan to revitalize the community was published. The plan was near completed to include the revitalization of the Pemco property. The neighborhood is home to many Greek restaurants and to the

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara (Lycia), Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya ...

Greek Orthodox Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...

Church. It is home to the annual Baltimore Greek Festival and Parade. Continuing the consecutive-alphabet scheme that originates in Highlandtown to the west, the north–south streets in this area are: Lehigh, Macon, Newkirk, Oldham, Ponca, Quail, Rappolla, Savage, Tolna, and Umbra.

The neighborhood is served by Dr. John Ruhrah Elementary Middle School, a city-designated landmark building, built in 1930.

Notable residents

* Stavros Halkias, comedian

References

External links

Live in Baltimore - GreektownGreektown Community Development CorporationUSA Today Television on the evolving nature of Greektown
{{Ethnic enclaves East Baltimore Ethnic enclaves in Maryland Greek-American culture in Baltimore Greektowns in the United States Hispanic and Latino American culture in Baltimore Neighborhoods in Baltimore Restaurant districts and streets in the United States Southeast Baltimore