Global True Lithuania Encyclopedia of Lithuanian heritage worldwide

Youngstown, Ohio

Youngstown, once a mighty steel city, has also been one of the American cities most affected by the white flight. It has lost 62% of its peak population of 1930.

Before that peak, Lithuanians established a modest St. Francis Lithuanian church there. It still stands, although the entire districts that were inhabited by Lithuanians around it are now turned into vast areas of grass and forests with a single abandoned house here and there. The few homes that are not abandoned are mostly inhabited by Blacks as Whites (and Lithuanians) moved to the suburbs ~1950s. The church was closed in the 1979.

Youngstown St. Francis Lithuanian church

The church in its golden era when it was still surrounded by homes owned by Lithuanians

Interestingly, the Lithuanian church itself is not abandoned, even though it looks so. It is used only in Sundays by a non-Catholic congregation much of which comes from a suburbs. There is nothing on the church building that would remind of its Lithuanian history.

The map

All the Lithuanian locations, described in this article, are marked on this interactive map, made by the "Destination Lithuanian America" expedition (click the link):

Interactive map of Ohio Lithuanian sites