Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church
Dallas, Dallas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In the early 20th century, unrest and subsequent regional turmoil in Greece forced hundreds of thousands of Greeks to leave their homes, often for America. A year after the Hermes Society, a Greek-American benevolent society, was formed, the Dallas Community recognized the pressing need to establish an Eastern Orthodox Church. On November 18, 1915, a charter was signed and granted to create Holy Trinity for public worship. By 1916, with the help of many donations and a loan, construction began at the Riggs Street location, the first site of Holy Trinity. There are very few records of the construction as the wood-frame structure was designed to be temporary as many Greeks in Dallas meant to return to Greece. On July 18, 1937, Holy Trinity at Riggs Street was consecrated. In the late 1930s, Archbishop Athenagoras (later Patriarch) visited Dallas. By this time, a community meeting hall was added and a nearby house served as the priest’s house. During WWI and WWII, Holy Trinity contributed to the war effort through military service and services at home. Following the war, Dallas grew quickly and the church purchased property and built a new church at Swiss Avenue and Apple Street. There the church flourished, initiating and participating in numerous church and community activities, including choir, youth activities, stage productions, concerts, the annual Greek Food Festival, monthly publications and much more. In the 1990s, the church moved to this location. Through spiritual guidance, cultural celebrations and involvement in the community, Holy Trinity helped cement a successful and growing Greek population in Dallas. (2017)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Turmoil in early-twentieth-century Greece drove hundreds of thousands of Greeks to America, and Dallas's growing community soon felt the need for an Eastern Orthodox parish of its own. In 1915 a charter created Holy Trinity, and by 1916 a modest wood-frame church rose on Riggs Street — built to be temporary, since many parishioners expected to return home. Instead the congregation put down roots, moving to Swiss Avenue after the war and to its present site in the 1990s while anchoring Greek cultural life through festivals, choirs, and community events.
Why it matters
The church charts how a wave of Greek immigrants who came expecting to leave instead became a permanent, thriving thread in the American civic and cultural fabric.
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Related people
- · Archbishop Athenagoras
Themes & tags
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