The Greeks of Jefferson Boulevard

1926 — present

Forty-five families founded the Greek parish: the first Greek Orthodox Divine Liturgy in the area was celebrated on 15 January 1926, Bishop Philaretos of Chicago officiating, and St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church — founded by forty-five Greek immigrant families — held its first liturgy in its own church on 12 September 1926, in the renovated St. Paul's German Evangelical Lutheran Church at 418 West Jefferson Boulevard: a German congregation's building passing to a Greek one, the city's succession of peoples written in a single address. The cornerstone of the attached parish building was laid on 14 October 1929; the community counted about 127 members in 1927, and its first priest, Father Philotheos Mazokopakis, was a Cretan who had come to America in 1908. The parish moved with its people: to 760 South Michigan Street from 1956 to 1978, and to its present home at 52455 Ironwood Road in 1978. The community wrote its own book — The Greeks of Michiana, by Milton Kouroubetis — and its festival, running since 1976, stands in the events file of this history; the parish, a century on from the forty-five families, remains the Greek community's seat.

Sources:

1. Notre Dame, Building South Bend — St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church (first liturgy, 15 January 1926; the Jefferson Boulevard purchase and cornerstone) — building.southbend.nd.edu
2. St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church — parish history (forty-five founding families; the moves of 1956 and 1978) — standrewsgoc.org
3. The Greeks of Michiana — Milton Kouroubetis (the community's own published history)