History

The Assumption Greek Orthodox Church of Price, Utah stands as one of the most remarkable Greek Orthodox parishes in America, a monument to the faith and tenacity of the Greek immigrants who built it in the rugged coal country of Carbon County. In 1900 there were only three Greeks in all of Utah. That changed swiftly and dramatically when Greek men were brought into the Price area as strikebreakers during the Carbon County coal miners' strike of 1903 and 1904. They stayed, and they kept coming. By 1916 approximately 3,000 young Greek men were working in the coal mines of Carbon County, forming one of the largest Greek immigrant communities in the American West.

As the community grew, so did the desire for a permanent house of worship. Greek men from Price and Helper had long held church services in a Greek coffee house in Helper, but in 1914 the Price Greeks began meeting with those of Helper to settle the question of where a permanent church should be built. After considerable debate the Helper Greeks agreed that Price was the right location. The first formal meeting for the establishment of the Greek Orthodox Church of Southern Utah was held on December 15 of that year, and a general assembly followed on December 22. Fundraising commenced, an architect was engaged, and the community petitioned the Holy Synod of Greece to assign them a priest. In February of the following year, land was purchased for $800. Bids for construction were opened on March 7, with the lowest bid coming in at $11,336 plus $968 for a furnace. On May 4, the Holy Synod assigned the Reverend Mark Petrakis to the new community. On August 15, 1916, the Feast of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin Mary, the church was officially dedicated, and the Greek Orthodox Church of Price was born.

The church that rose on that site was the thirty-third Greek Orthodox church established in North and South America, and it is believed to be the oldest Greek Orthodox church in continuous use west of the Mississippi River. Its Byzantine architecture made it an immediate landmark in Price, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. The immigrants who built it shared in the full drama of Utah history, living through strikes, labor conflicts, Ku Klux Klan attacks, mine explosions, the Great Depression, and two world wars. Their story is as much a part of the pioneering history of Utah as any that came before them.

Today, the Assumption Greek Orthodox Church serves approximately 120 Greek families and a congregation that includes Orthodox Christians from many ethnic backgrounds and converts from a wide range of faith traditions, at 61 South 200 East in Price as a parish of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco. Its annual Greek Festival is a beloved Carbon County tradition, and its members continue to play prominent roles in the businesses, charities, and civic life of the community their ancestors helped build.