History

The Greek community of Altoona, Pennsylvania was established in 1898, when A.A. Notopoulos initiated the Greek settlement in what was then one of Pennsylvania's most important railroad cities. As the community grew through the first two decades of the twentieth century, the faithful rented a third-floor hall on the main street near Fifteenth Street and converted it into a chapel. Priests from surrounding communities made the journey to Altoona to administer to the congregation, and Notopoulos himself was selected by his fellow Greeks to act as their religious guide and community organizer.

As the church building fund grew, the Commonwealth was petitioned for a state charter for the Hellenic Community of the Holy Trinity, Agia Trias, of Altoona. In 1924, when the fund had reached more than $28,000, the Mountain City Hebrew Reform Congregation sold its synagogue building to Notopoulos and Charles Miles on behalf of the Greek Orthodox congregation for $37,500, with three adjacent houses included in the sale. When the building was converted to a Greek Orthodox church, it was described at the time as the most elegant church between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. A crystal chandelier imported from Czechoslovakia was purchased by the congregation in 1925 and remains to this day. By 1933, as the church celebrated its 35th anniversary, the community comprised 400 men, women, and children, 200 of whom were American citizens, with membership eventually expanding to at least 500 persons across a four-county area.

In the decades following World War II, as employment in Altoona declined and the city's population contracted, the congregation began a gradual decline as well, eventually reaching a point where a full-time resident priest was no longer sustainable. Services today are scheduled by the Metropolis of Pittsburgh and all are welcome to join the faithful who gather to worship in this historic building.

Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church at 1433 13th Avenue in Altoona serves the Orthodox Christian faithful of Blair County as a parish of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Pittsburgh within the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.