History

Greek immigration to Fresno County began in 1892, when George Papageorge became the first Greek to settle in the area, eventually opening a candy store on Fresno's Mariposa Street. The first large wave of Greek immigration arrived in 1905, and most of these early settlers became involved in the restaurant, coffee house, and ranching businesses that defined much of the San Joaquin Valley's economy at the time.

As the Greek community grew, the desire for a church of their own became pressing. On May 9, 1923, the forty-five-member Greek community of Fresno formally organized, with Anastasios K. Pinoris, a local clothing merchant, serving as its first president. That same year, Saint George Greek Orthodox Church was founded on Fresno Street, before later moving to its present location on Orchard Avenue. In 1926 the women of the Greek community formed the Athena Society, a group that has worked tirelessly through the decades for the spiritual and financial betterment of the parish. The following year, in 1927, chapters of AHEPA, the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association, and GAPA, the Greek American Progressive Association, were established in Fresno, further strengthening the institutional life of the Greek community.

The parish established its Greek language school in 1938, hiring Peter Rellos as its first teacher at a salary of $95 per month, with parents contributing a dollar a month for each child to ensure their children could read and write in their mother tongue. In 1960 the parish inaugurated its now beloved Greek Food Festival, which grew into one of Fresno's preeminent annual community events. Through each generation, devout parishioners have kept the torch of the faith burning, carrying forward the pioneer spirit of the small, resolute group of Greek Orthodox Christians who first arrived in the Valley more than a century ago.

Saint George Greek Orthodox Church at 2219 North Orchard Street in Fresno serves the Orthodox Christian faithful of the San Joaquin Valley as a parish of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco within the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, a community so ethnically diverse that its members affectionately call it the United Nations of Orthodox Churches.