Sioux City History and Culture by Bicycle Part 112: William LaBarthe Steele Part 7: Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church

William L. Steele designed the edifice of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church.

Located at 900 6th Street on the eastern side of downtown Sioux City the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church is the oldest Greek Orthodox church building in Iowa and the largest in physical size.

The history of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox begins in 1918, when more than five hundred Greeks, living in Sioux City, attended a meeting at a Knights of Columbus hall. Until then, the more than a thousand Greeks who had come to work in Sioux City's meatpacking industry traveled to Omaha, Nebraska, one hundred miles away to the south, for occasional services. Led by Paikos K. Pappaphilipopoulos (who later Americanized his name to Peter Nelson), the Greek community started a fund drive and purchased a corner property near downtown for $35,000 in 1920. The parcel included three houses, one of which they used as a temporary church.

The cornerstone was laid in in the spring of 1925 on Annunciation Day and the church was completed by September of that same year. The church was formally dedicated on October 4, 1925. The church continues to serve as the parish house of worship to this day. Holy Trinity Church is listed on the National Registry of Historic Buildings and is one of four churches selected by the local museum for its "Sacred History Tour" of the city.

The church still stands as a testament to the perseverance of it's members. In February of 1996, a fire gutted the church's interior. A sixteen member renovation committee raised the $600,000 needed to restore the interior. Under the direction and efforts of architect Christ Kamages of San Francisco, iconographer Elias Damianakis of Florida and woodcarver Steve Kavroulakis of Crete, the community acquired a new altar, sanctuary, narthex, iconostasion, and iconography. Metropolitan Iakovos of Krinis, rededicated the church in June 1999 and called Holy Trinity "a jewel of the Midwest."

Here is the info. from the National Register of Historic Places:
Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church (added 1998 - Building - #98000381)
900 6th St., Sioux City
Historic Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering
Architect, builder, or engineer: Steele, William L., Reische & Sanborn
Architectural Style: Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals
Area of Significance: Architecture, European
Period of Significance: 1925-1949
Owner: Private
Historic Function: Religion
Historic Sub-function: Religious Structure
Current Function: Religion
Current Sub-function: Religious Structure

The digital copy of the micro film of the October 4 and 5, 1925 edition of the Sioux City Journal about the churche's dedication:




Here are the photo's I took of the church: