Assumption of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church

San Angelo's Greek community organized in 1929, nineteen years after Texas's first Greek Orthodox church was chartered in Fort Worth. St. Demetrios there began in 1910 under Fr. Christos Angelopoulos, ahead of Houston's Annunciation, and was only the second Greek Orthodox church west of the Mississippi, after Omaha. Its organizers included a confectioner, Basil Booth, and a grocer, Jim Metaras. Many Fort Worth Greeks worked at the stockyards and packing plants or ran restaurants and groceries, and the city had about 400 Greeks in 1911.

What the plaque says

Assumption of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church On Nov. 23 1929, a group of Greek residents in San Angelo made the first attempt to organize the Greek community in the area by creating the "Hellenic Educational Society 'The Platon'" or "Platon Society." This society was intended to establish a school to teach the Greek language and to promote religious studies. In the early decades, there was no distinction between the Platon Society and the church as the former controlled the latter. The society incorporated Jul. 6, 1931, while the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary San Angelo incorporated on Nov. 28, 1932. After meeting at a cafe for over a year, the society decided to find a place to hold their services and school, ultimately choosing to rent the Episcopal Church in 1933. On May 9, 1936, a fire consumed the building adjoined to the church, leading the Orthodox congregation to vote to erect their own building. Local architect L. H. Gaskins designed a new structure but one based on the old church. They also bought the fire damaged Episcopal Church and moved it to this location where the present church was built. On Jul. 28, 1937, the society bought two lots at Avenue G and Sam Street (now Montecito and Kenwood) from G. Dorrance for $950. Today this building is still home to the parish although it has added on a parish hall and storeroom and been renovated. At the time, the church was the largest in West Texas in terms of geographic area served, ministering to San Angelo, Midland, Odessa, Pecos, Lubbock and Amarillo. The church, beginning as the center of a thriving immigrant Greek community, also attracts many non-Greeks drawn by their faith. Although the church's makeup has changed since the 1930s, its life in the community is still going strong, bringing a sense of peace and beauty to the neighborhood. (2012)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Concho River Walk — 0.4 mi
  Four miles of lit trails along the North Concho through downtown San Angelo, rebuilt after voters taxed themselves in 2004, with gardens, sculpture, a river stage and stocked trout.
• San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts — 0.9 mi
  A free art museum on the Concho beside Fort Concho, founded in the fort's 1868 quartermaster building and known nationally for its biennial ceramics competition.
• Fort Concho National Historic Landmark — 0.9 mi
  The stone post at the forks of the Concho, headquarters of the Tenth Cavalry from 1875 to 1882, saved by a woman with a museum and now a city-run landmark of 23 original buildings.
• Miss Hattie's Bordello Museum — 1.0 mi
  The upstairs rooms on Concho Avenue where a brothel ran from 1902 until the Texas Rangers closed it in 1952, shown on short guided tours with most of the furnishings original.

More markers nearby

• Homesite of Mrs. Robert Massie (1867-1931) — 0.3 mi
• Fairmount Cemetery — 0.6 mi
• Daniel Millar — 0.7 mi
• John Ingram — 0.7 mi