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8 GREEKTOWN: A LITTLE SLICE OF ATHENS

BOUNDARIES: Eastern Ave., S. Ponca St., Foster Ave.

DISTANCE: 0.9 mile

DIFFICULTY: Easy

PARKING: Street parking all along route

PUBLIC TRANSIT: MTA bus #20 runs along Ponca St. MTA buses #s 10, 13, 22, and 30 run along Eastern Ave. (Future plans call for a red line extension of the Light Rail to run through Greektown.)

Greektown, long known simply as The Hill (many old-timers still refer to their neighborhood this way), got its start in the 1890s. For many years, it was thought of primarily as a small eastern adjunct of neighboring Highlandtown. It has been called, variously, East Highlandtown, Highland Hills, and Bayview. Because a large influx of Greek immigrants settled here, in the 1980s the locals successfully petitioned the Baltimore City Council to officially change the name to Greektown. What’s wonderful about Greektown today is that, unlike so many other ethnic enclaves where successive generations lit out for the suburbs, there is still an authentic Greek flavor here. This little neighborhood does not at all feel as if the Greeks are simply stopping in to manage their restaurants or attend church. So many of them still happily make their homes here. Yes, the neighborhood is changing a bit—you’ll see several Latin restaurants now—but there are still Greeks galore. The result is that you can hear Greek being spoken from stoops, the food is authentic (and terrific), and the joyous outpourings you’ll witness during the Greek Festival make this feel like a little slice of Athens in East Baltimore.

 Eastern Ave. is the main drag bisecting Greektown and the location for many of its favorite restaurants, so begin there, as close to the Eastern Avenue Underpass as possible. The mural on the underpass is worth checking out. It stretches one quarter of a mile and links Greektown with Highlandtown to the west, making it the largest mural in the city. The mural, which is on both sides of the street, depicts people engaged in activities typical of those living in these immigrant communities: Greek dancing, soccer, parades, bocce.

 As you emerge from the underpass, where Lehigh St. intersects Eastern Ave., you’ll see the first of many Greek flags to your right. Here, there are also American and Maryland flags; in some sections of Greektown, you’ll see nothing but the blue and white of the Greek national flag and often a dozen or more grouped together. Behind these flags, also to your right and behind you a little, is the old hulk of an impressive industrial building. This was once the Crown Cork & Seal plant, which produced some 40 billion bottle caps a year and held the distinction of being the largest bottle cap factory in the world, employing upwards of 5,000 people. You can poke around the place today—though do so carefully. Large swaths of the complex look like they haven’t been touched since the plant’s closure in 1958. But other sections are now home to machine shops, coffee roasters, and woodworking shops. Also, perhaps fittingly, Bawlmer Craft Beers LLC has installed a brewery here.

 Return to Eastern Ave. and head east. You may as well follow the parade route used during Greek Independence Day celebrations every year at the end of March. The parade actually begins on the west side of the underpass, coming up Haven St. and following Eastern Ave. through the underpass. The parade is something to see: traditional dress, dancing, and music fill the air. And, of course, there’s plenty of delicious food to sample.

 As you make your way up Eastern Ave., you’ll immediately notice the profusion of Greek flags and restaurants. In this short stretch of Eastern, plus quick detours up side streets, you’ll find no fewer than seven Greek restaurants, including the award-winning Acropolis; Zagat-rated and nationally known Samos; and a local favorite, Ikaros.

 When you reach Ponca St., take a right. At the end of the block, you’ll come to the Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church. This is in many ways the neighborhood’s central meeting point, and not only on worship days. The church was founded in 1953 and has grown to accommodate more than a thousand parishioners. Services are still held largely in ancient Greek. The church sponsors the annual Greek Folk Festival in June, four days focusing on Hellenic culture. More than 30 years strong, it is not only one of the Mid-Atlantic’s longest-running celebrations of Greek culture, it’s also one of the biggest, drawing visitors from all over the region.

 Continue another one and a half blocks south on S. Ponca St. to the 700 block. On the left, just past Foster Ave., is the Plateia. This is the building where locals showcase Greek-related and Greektown-inspired artistic performances: concerts, foreign films, plays, readings.

 Return to Foster Ave. and take a left. Greektown is a low-crime and close-knit area, encompassing both the southeastern city police district and Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. Proximity to major highways—I-895 runs through and I-95 forms the eastern border of the neighborhood—also makes it ripe for renewed investment. To that end, a new town home development is in the works (as of 2012, construction had just begun) just one block west.

 At the next block, Oldham St., take a right. Midway up the block, you’ll find a great Greek-themed mural to the right. Continue back to Eastern Ave. and take a left.

 The rest of the walk provides an opportunity to take in the more residential feel of Greektown. As you make your way down the main and side streets, you’ll notice how tidy Greektown feels. Bowfront row houses with marble stoops where folks sit and chat—in Greek, in English, in Spanish—it’s quintessential Baltimore. To take in just two of these residential blocks, take a left onto S. Newkirk St. from Eastern. Follow it one block to Fleet St. and take a right. Then take a right at the next block, S. Macon St., and follow it back to Eastern Ave. You will be just one and a half blocks from the Eastern Avenue Underpass.

BACK STORY

It seems a somewhat simple thing, the bottle cap. Most of us think of them only as we’re twisting or prying them off a beer bottle. But when Baltimore businessman William Painter invented a flanged metal cap in 1892, he revolutionized bottling. Now the world had a way to keep carbonated drinks fizzy. Crown Cork & Seal originally set up on Guilford Ave. (see Walk 21: Station North) but moved here to Greektown in 1904. When company president Charles E. McManus invented a cork lining for the bottle cap, the company took off and turned itself into the world’s largest producer. A simple invention? Perhaps. But how many people, in Baltimore and around the world, have on a steamy summer day pried the cap off their favorite refreshing drink and listened with extreme satisfaction to the telltale hiss of freshness? Ahhhh.

CONNECTING THE WALKS

On the west side of the Eastern Avenue Underpass sits Highlandtown. It’s five blocks to the Enoch Pratt Free Library’s Southeast Anchor branch, where Walk 9: Patterson Park to Highlandtown intersects.

POINTS OF INTEREST (START TO FINISH)

Eastern Avenue Underpass Between S. Haven St. and S. Lehigh St.

Crown Cork & Seal Plant Eastern Ave.

Acropolis acropolisbaltimore.com, 4718 Eastern Ave., 410-675-3384

Samos samosrestaurant.com, 600 Oldham St., 410-675-5292

Ikaros ikarosrestaurant.com, 4901 Eastern Ave., 410-633-3750

Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church 520 S. Ponca St., 410-633-5020

Plateia 700 block of S. Ponca St.

ROUTE SUMMARY

1 Start at the Eastern Avenue Underpass.

2 Head east on Eastern Ave.

3 Turn right onto S. Ponca St.

4 Turn left onto Foster Ave.

5 Turn right onto Oldham St.

6 Turn left onto Eastern Ave.

7 Turn left onto S. Newkirk St.

8 Turn right onto Fleet St.

9 Turn right onto S. Macon St.

10 Turn left onto Eastern Ave.

Greek flag and banner