The first Greek Festival took place in 1965, and by the time the festival ended, Greektown had established itself in Detroit as an attractive commercial and entertainment district. In order to attract more visitors to the area, they also decided to establish an annual Greek Festival to coincide with the Fourth of July holiday. With the help of the mayor’s office, they were able to improve Greektown by installing street lights and improving the streetscape and building exteriors.

At that time, many of Detroit’s Greek community and business leaders realized that if they did not intervene, the cultural integrity of the Greektown District could be lost forever. In the early 1960s, Greektown was redeveloped as a more commercialized district with space for both parking and municipal buildings. Through the 1950s, a mélange of immigrants moved into the few residences that remained amidst the businesses. In the 1920s, the Greek residents, like the German residents before them, began to move out of the area, although their businesses, restaurants, and stores, remained. In the early 1900s, many of the German residents began to move out of the neighborhood, and Greek residents moved in and established businesses. Greektown was first settled in the 1830s by German immigrants as a primarily residential neighborhood. It is dominated by Greek themed décor and restaurants. The Greektown Historic District, commonly referred to simply as “Greektown,” is a historic neighborhood, commercial district, and entertainment district on Monroe Avenue between Brush and St.

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