Overlapping, fluid boundaries encompass two historical immigrant settlements in downtown Detroit, Germantown and Greektown, each with their own histories and community institutions.
Here in Harmonie Park, you will find a historical marker for Germantown, but steps away from you is the heart of the bustling commercial district of Greektown. This larger area of eastern downtown Detroit was home to both German and Greek immigrants, among others. Mostly residential at first, these neighborhoods grew to include businesses and other community institutions, many of which still stand today as reminders of the immigrant settlements which once existed here.
The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 made travel to Detroit easier, and the nineteenth century saw the arrival of many Irish and German immigrants. Looking to escape political unrest in Europe, Germans began arriving in Detroit in the 1830s, settling primarily around Gratiot. Numbers of German immigrants would reach a peak in the 1880s, and Detroit’s first cartographer, Silas Farmer, in his volume, The History of Detroit and Michigan, labels the area as Dutchtown, which would later become more commonly known as Germantown. Germantown become home to churches that were originally ethnic German, including St. Joseph’s Catholic and Historic Trinity, German-owned businesses like the Acme Wire and Iron Works and the building for the Detroiter Abendpost, as well as cultural institutions and clubs, such as Harmonie Hall and Arbeiter Hall.
Later in the nineteenth century, immigrants from Greece began to arrive in Detroit but increasing in number after the turn of the century. Greektown started on Monroe Street but subsequently grew around Macomb. Like Germantown, it started out as a residential area but grew as a business district with coffee shops, restaurants, and the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, founded in 1909. Today Greektown is adjacent to a number of city government buildings and is a popular entertainment destination for Detroiters and visitors, with restaurants, shopping and the Greektown Casino Hotel, erected in 2000. In this iconic shot, one can see the intersection of these two neighborhoods with the Greektown Casino Hotel flanking St. Mary’s Church, the city’s third oldest Roman Catholic institution.
Longer text
Downtown Detroit in the 19th century was a popular destination for many newcomers to the city, including a large number of immigrants from various countries. In 1850, 47.7% [i] of Detroit’s total population was foreign-born. By the early 1900s, the Detroit Free Press speculated that there were at least 40 languages spoken in the city. [ii]
For some, Detroit was a layover on the journey to another destination in the country, but for others, it became a place to build homes and communities. Here in downtown Detroit within steps of one another, the streets are lined with evidence of two large ethnic communities: historic Germantown and contemporary Greektown.
Along with the Irish, the Germans were once of the older immigrant groups to settle in Detroit. Putting down roots in the area of Gratiot and Jefferson Avenue, German immigrants built homes and opened shops and businesses to serve the needs of the community. Other community institutions were established for worship including St. Mary’s church, entertainment and socialization at cultural institutions including Harmonie Hall and Arbeiter Hall, as well as institutions for disseminating information, like the building for the Detroiter Abendpost, a German-language newspaper which has grown into the Nordamerikanische Wochenpost, which has been in publication for over 160 years is now based in Warren, Michigan.
But only steps away from what was once the heart of German life in Detroit, you find yourself immersed in the history of another of Detroit’s immigrant ethnic communities, Greektown. In the shadow of the Greektown casino and amidst the bustle of the restaurants of this contemporary destination hotspot used to be the residences of Greek immigrants arriving in Detroit in large numbers up until the 1930s. As in Germantown, settlers established businesses and institutions creating a community where one could reside, work, and connect with other community members. As noted by Karagiannis and Zachary, settlers included not only families but also a large number of young Greek men who flocked to coffee houses to relax, converse and play games. [iii]
While neither of these populations stayed exclusively in these neighborhoods, the buildings and cultural institutions that remain are reminders of what once existed, and in some cases, still exist from this era. For more specific information about individual locations, see other stories from Ethnic Layers of Detroit.
Footnotes
- [i] The Detroit Almanac.
- [ii] Cosmospolitan Detroit. Detroit Free Press, September 22, 1907.
- [iii] Karagiannis, Constatine and Ernest Zachary. 1976. A Tour of Detroit’s Greektown. Field Trip Series, Tour Number 7. Paul Travalini, Editor. Southeast Michigan Regional Ethnic Heritage Studies Center.
