Between the years of 1900 and 1920, nearly 352,000 Greek boys and men left their villages for a country thousands of miles away. By 1925, one in every four Greek men between the ages of fifteen and forty-five had come to America. Many came alone, often without sponsors, and carried their families' pool of silver coins sewed to their underwear.

The Greek immigrants arrived in America at a time when the country needed cheap labor for the rapid industrialization of the West.

Rail lines were expanding and coal and mineral mines were opening.

America needed the immigrant's brawn; immigrants needed America's money.

Greek immigration to Utah not only came to affect the economy and growth of the state, it added another vibrant community to the mosaic of Utah's population. See archival photos of early miners and budding immigrant communities throughout the state. Read more about local Greek history in "The Greeks in Utah, written by Helen Papanikolas in the Utah History Encyclopedia, and learn more in a section from Dean L. May's Utah: A People's History.