Ethnic Neighborhoods

[jay]

The Irish congregation of St. Patrick church on Oak Hill Avenue was so large that it needed two school buildings for their children.  Although the church survives today, the church members have moved away and the two school buildings now have other uses.  This area of the city is not much to talk about these days.  The neighborhood was better when it  had an Irish population.

[Glenna]

I was just wondering if you had any pictures of the old St. Joseph Church that was on Wick & Rayen. I went to school there and I would love to see some photos of the church and school. Thank you for all the info on Youngstown. I love to hear about the history of Youngstown.
Thanks

[Towntalk]

Between 1884 and 1900 there was a large number of families still living in the immediate downtown area and the following list of downtown churches reflects this:

DOWNTOWN CHURCHES BETWEEN 1884 and 1896

1884

First Baptist Church – Market at W. Boardman St.
Trinity Methodist Church – W. Front St. at S. Phelps

1889

St. Columba  (Irish) – W. Wood St. at Hazel
Evangelical Church – 115 West Wood St.
Disciple Church – 24 W. Wood Street
Tabernacle Presbyterian Church – East Wood at Walnut St.
St. Joseph  German Catholic Church – Corner Wick and Rayen
First Presbyterian Church – Corner of Wick and Wood St.
St. John Church – W. Corner of North Champion and Wood St.
German Lutheran Church – E. Corner of North Champion and Wood St.
Welsh Baptist Church – Walnut and Summit St.
Presbyterian Church – E. Rayen and N. Walnut
Methodist Church – 22-24 East Front St.
German Church – Elm between West Wood St.  and Rayen Ave.

1896

Rodef Shalom Synagogue – W. Rayen at Holmes
Jewish Synagogue – 229 Summit St.

The largest part of the downtown area that had private homes was located East of Wick Avenue/Market Street mainly North of E. Commerce Street and south of East Federal Street between Walnut Street and Basin Street.

There were still private homes on West Front Street during that period as well as a few on the far end of West Boardman Street.

[Towntalk]

Also, those Ethnic neighborhoods were established by first generation immigrants. With the decline of new immigrants settling here, there is no need for such neighborhoods.

There is also a misconception about the Ethnic neighborhoods of Youngstown. Not all of them were as charming as one would think. For example the East End of downtown Youngstown was an early Ethnic neighborhood extending from East Front to Oak Street and from Walnut to Watt Streets. This was the area where new immigrants came and lived until they could save up enough money to move elsewhere.

In time they would move to the South and East sides of the city.

The Cathedral before Youngstown got a Bishop serviced the Irish; St. Joseph, the Germans; St. Lucy, the Italians; St Michaels, the Greeks, there was a Jewish Church, a German Lutheran Church, A Slovak Catholic Church, all within the immediate area of the East End in those days.

As the immigrants moved out of the East End we see the real development of the kind of ethnic neighborhoods we are all familiar with.

By 1907 according to the Sanborn Maps we see their development. For example, Romanians settled in the lower East Side, a thriving Jewish community sprang up on the East Side with two churches, the Irish started Sacred Heart Church, there was also an Italian Catholic Church on the Lower East End, St. Francis, and a Lebanese Catholic Church.

[irishbobcat]

Ethnic Neighborhoods were a bonus to Youngstown at a time when we had steel mills and a common manufacturing base.We had  working class neighborhoods back then.The people who lived on your street were also the people you went to work with 40 hours per week. Everybody worked together and knew each other's families.

With no manufacturing jobs or base left in the valley, there are no more neighborhoods. Bringing back some type of manufacturing jobs would help reunite neighborhoods again.

With no working class left in the valley, that is one reason you have no more ethnic neighborhoods.

Dennis Spisak

Green Candidate for State Rep-60th District

[jay]

Over the years, I've heard many interesting stories about Youngstown's thriving ethnic neighborhoods.  Among these were Irish, Italian, Polish, Slovak and many others.  People of a common ancestry had  a special pride for their neighborhood.

Was the city of Youngstown better off when we had ethnic neighborhoods?