Ethnicity & Churches

in the Mahoning Valley

The Mahoning Valley has always had a diverse religious population which includes Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist, and Episcopalian churches.  This diversity greatly increased during a period of industrialization in the early 20^th century.  The Mahoning Valley, and especially Youngstown, saw rapid economic growth when the city’s iron mills converted to steel during the 1890’s.  These new steel mills required a large number of able-bodied, hard-working people to keep them running smoothly.  This increased need for workers brought many new immigrants to the Valley; most were from countries in eastern and southern Europe such as Italy, Greece, Hungary, Poland, and Romania.  At the beginning of this industrialization movement, the Mahoning Valley was home to around 45,000 people.  By 1930, there were 170,000 people living in the Mahoning Valley.  Youngstown even became one of the fifty largest cities in the entire United States!

Although eager to embrace their new American lives, these new immigrants still wanted to stay in touch with their cultural heritage, and they did this by establishing churches and living together in small, supportive communities.  To this day, many people remember the many different nationalities that lived together in Youngstown’s various neighborhoods.  For instance, Smoky Hollow and Lansingville were ethnic neighborhoods known for being home to many Italians and Slovak-Americans. Immigrants also stayed connected to their old ways of living through church.  In churches, the new Americans could find people who shared their spiritual beliefs and worldviews.  As a result, the number of churches in the Mahoning Valley skyrocketed with the growth of Valley residents.

With this increase in new churches, the Mahoning Valley became home to many more faiths including Catholic, Orthodox, and Jewish.  The large number of churches in the Valley represented the many different nationalities of the people living here.  Today, there are still churches in the Valley that represent our area’s ethnic diversity, such as St. John’s Episcopal Church (Anglo-Saxon), St. Peter and Paul Church (Croatian), and St. Rose of Lima (Hispanic). What church do you go to? Are there a lot of people of the same ethnicity at your church? If so, which one?

German Lutheran Church

John Calvin Church &

Congregation ca. 1960

St. Columba second building 1889

St. Joseph interior 1889

The Mahoning Valley Historical Society educates and promotes an interest in the history of the Mahoning Valley by collecting, preserving, and developing material representative of the people who have inhabited the region.

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