List of Italian-American neighborhoods

There are localized concentrations of Italian Americans in many metropolitan areas of the United States, especially in California and the industrial cities of the Northeast and Midwest. Today, the state of New York has the largest population of Italian-Americans, while Rhode Island and Connecticut have the highest overall percentages in relation to their respective populations.

In contrast, most of the rest of the country (exceptions being South Florida and New Orleans) have fewer Italian-American concentrations.

According to a recent United Census Bureau estimate, 17.8 million Americans are of Italian descent.[1] Communities of Italian Americans were established in many major industrial cities of the early 20th century, such as Baltimore (particularly Little Italy, Baltimore), Boston (particularly in the North End and East Boston) along with numerous nearby cities and towns, Philadelphia proper (particularly South Philadelphia) and the Philadelphia metro area (particularly neighborhoods in Delco, Atlantic City, Little Italy, Wilmington; and Vineland), Pittsburgh (particularly Bloomfield), Northeastern Pennsylvania cities, Lehigh Valley cities, Detroit, Providence (particularly Federal Hill), St. Louis (particularly The Hill), Chicago, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Youngstown, Erie, Cleveland, Buffalo, Newark, and New York City, which boasts the largest Italian-American population, which live in several concentrated communities in the New York metropolitan area, including the five boroughs, Long Island, Westchester County, Fairfield County and North Jersey. New Orleans, Louisiana was the first site of immigration of Italians into America in the 19th century, before Italy was a unified nation-state. This was before New York Harbor and Baltimore became the preferred destinations for Italian immigrants.

Alabama
  • Daphne – Prior to the 1978 annexation of the Lake Forest subdivision, Daphne was a heavily Italian community, and pre-1978 Daphne territory remains Italian, with street names such as Guarisco. The Archdiocese of Mobile considers Christ the King Parish in Daphne an Italian-American parish.

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Northern California
  • Cotati – Italian community in the area's grape-growing industry.[3]
  • Excelsior District, San Francisco – Italian-American Social Club is on Russia St., and Calabria Brothers Deli is around the corner on Mission Street.[4]
  • Fresno and some Italian descendants in portions of the San Joaquin Valley (i.e. Kern County with its grape industry).[5]
  • Gilroy – Italian community in the area's grape-growing industry.[6]
  • "Italian Colony", Oakland.[7]
  • Marin County (Albert Park, San Rafael).[8]
  • Napa – Little Italy is the East Napa historic neighborhoods of First-Juarez-Third Streets and Alta Heights. The Napa Valley wine industry owes its heritage to Italian vintners.[9]
  • North Beach, San Francisco – baseball legend Joe DiMaggio grew up here. The Italian Heritage Parade (formerly the Columbus Day Parade) is the oldest in the U.S. and one of the largest. North Beach is also the home of City Lights Books, which helped to give birth to the Beats literary movement.[10]
  • Sacramento metro area – descendants of the 1849 California Gold Rush.[9] In December 2021, 49th to 59th streets and J Street to Folsom Boulevard of East Sacramento was designated as "Little Italy." The neighborhood historically had many Italian immigrants in the early 1900s, with businesses about, with lesser in number today.[11]
  • San Jose – San Jose's old Italian neighborhoods are Goose Town, North San Jose and the River Street/San Pedro Neighborhood. Each of these neighborhoods consisted of an Italian Church built by the Italian American community. The River Street Neighborhood is currently being revitalized and is now referred to as Little Italy San Jose. This neighborhood is located adjacent to the SAP Center and is anchored by a Gateway Arch and Italian Cultural Center & Museum and has several authentic Italian businesses.[12]
  • Santa Cruz County – CA coastal county.[13]
  • Sonoma County –the Italian Swiss Colony coop founded in the 1880s by Andrea Sbarbaro from Switzerland.
  • Spaghetti Hill, Monterey – birthplace of former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. The Salinas Valley also has many Italian descendants.[9]
  • South San Francisco – sizable Italian community.[14]
  • Stockton – descendants of the 1849 California Gold Rush.[15]
  • Temescal, Oakland was thriving with Italian immigrants since the 1960s.[7]

Southern California

Colorado
  • Denver – "Little Italy" has its roots in the Highlands neighborhood of North Denver. Italian miners, railroad workers and farmers developed Colorado in the late 19th century, and northern Italians are well represented. And South Denver along with Cherry Creek has a number of Italian-Americans.
  • Pueblo – Hundreds of Sicilians, particularly, settled in Pueblo at the turn of the 20th century. They have influenced the culture of the city powerfully.
  • Trinidad – retirement community in the Sunbelt region of the US typically have many elderly Italian-Americans from the east coast.

Connecticut

19.3% of Connecticut's population claims Italian ancestry, making it the second most Italian state in the U.S. after Rhode Island.

Delaware

Florida

Illinois

Indiana

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Jersey municipalities with over 25% of the population identifying themselves as of Italian ancestry (in those municipalities where at least 1,000 residents identified their ancestry):[39]

Other places in New Jersey

Paterson used to have the largest Italian percentage of any NJ city.

New York

The state of New York has the largest population of Italian Americans, at 3.1 million people. The majority of Italian Americans in New York City originated from southern parts of Italy.

New York City

New York City is home to the largest Italian-American population in North America and third largest Italian population outside of Italy, according to the 2000 census. See also Italians in New York City for more info.

Arthur Avenue in the Bronx

Long Island

Large Italian-American population.[43]

Westchester

Yorktown in Westchester County has the annual feast of San Gennaro.[44]

Rockland

Upstate New York

North Carolina

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon
  • Portland once had a "Little Italy" neighborhood.

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

19% of Rhode Island residents are Italian American, the greatest percentage of any state. 199,180 of Rhode Island's population of 1,048,319 claim Italian ancestry.

Texas

Utah

Washington

West Virginia

Approximately 11% of the combined population of "Mountaineer Country", collectively the north central West Virginia cities of Clarksburg, Fairmont and Morgantown, claim Italian ancestry, mostly from Italian immigrants recruited to work in mining and glass manufacturing.[58]

Wisconsin
  • Greenbush neighborhood of Madison – historically heavily Italian, but older Italians are dying off and younger ones have moved to the suburbs
  • Historic Third Ward, Milwaukee
  • Cable and other small towns in northern Wisconsin
  • Racine
  • Kenosha has the largest Italian community in the state.

References
  1. Bureau, U.S. Census. "American FactFinder - Results". factfinder.census.gov. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved March 31, 2010.
  2. "The parable of Italians in the South | The Economist". The Economist. May 27, 2017.
  3. "We The Italians | Crazy about accordions in Cotati".
  4. "Italian Americans in California: Introduction".
  5. "THE PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES OF THE 19TH CENTURY CENTRAL VALLEY - Italian Immigrants". Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  6. "Family friendly Casa de Fruta is a treasure". Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  7. "Italian American - Oakland - LocalWiki".
  8. "History: Italian-Americans Maintain Gardens in Albert Park". April 5, 2012.
  9. "Italian roots, California, Italian American". Archived from the original on March 27, 2015.
  10. "Last of the old-time Italians in North Beach". January 25, 2015.
  11. "East Sacramento Little Italy". ABC10. December 2021.
  12. "LITTLE ITALY SAN JOSE BUSINESS DISTRICT". www.littleitalysj.com.
  13. "A Tale of Two Immigrants". Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  14. "SSF Italian American Citizens Club Continues 100 Years Anniversary Celebrations". August 4, 2016.
  15. "California Italian American Project: Stockton, California".
  16. "Little Italy, Monrovia, CA neighborhood | Nextdoor".
  17. "Italian-Americans unearthing the lost history of LA's Little Italy". May 16, 2016.
  18. "St. Peter's Italian Church". www.stpeteritalianchurchla.org.
  19. "Italian Catholics". www.italianlosangeles.org.
  20. "About - Italian American Museum of Los Angeles". italianhall.org.
  21. "Pan-Italian Clubs – Italian Los Angeles".
  22. "The 50 U.S. cities with the most Italian Americans - The National Italian American Foundation". www.niaf.org. Archived from the original on January 7, 2015.
  23. "Dolly Sinatra Lodge #2400 – OSIA – We're Proud to be Italian-Americans!".
  24. "Gangsters in Paradise".
  25. "Little Italy Association of San Diego". www.littleitalysd.com.
  26. "Italians in San Diego – Italian expats in San Diego".
  27. "Little Italy Neighborhood - Fort Lauderdale, FL".
  28. "Miami Florida Italian Community - Italianos in Miami".
  29. "Armour Square". www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org.
  30. "HOME-Taylorstreetarchives". Taylor Street Archives. Archived from the original on December 28, 2018. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
  31. "A brief history of Berwyn". Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  32. "Chicago Heights, Illinois". Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  33. "And They Came To Chicago - An Italian American History". www.italiansofchicago.com.
  34. "Herrin's Italian Heritage". Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  35. "Melrose Park, IL". www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org.
  36. "Little Italy - The Chicago Neighborhoods". www.thechicagoneighborhoods.com.
  37. "Holy Rosary Neighborhood". Archived from the original on May 17, 2014. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  38. "Take A Trip To Nevada's Very Own Little Italy For A Day Of Delicious Eating".
  39. Italian Communities Archived May 12, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, accessed November 11, 2006
  40. "Welcome to 1940s New York: NYC neighborhood profiles from 1943, based on the 1940 Census". www.1940snewyork.com.
  41. "DocumentCloud".
  42. Roberts, Sam (February 22, 2011). "In New York's Little Italy, Fewer and Fewer Italians - The New York Times". The New York Times.
  43. "Long Island Italians by Salvatore J. LaGumina | Arcadia Publishing Books".
  44. "Yorktown Feast of San Gennaro | Town of Yorktown New York". Archived from the original on November 1, 2020.
  45. "Italians". May 11, 2018.
  46. "About". Cleveland Little Italy. March 21, 2010. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
  47. Bureau, U.S. Census. "American FactFinder - Results". factfinder2.census.gov. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020.
  48. Bureau, U.S. Census. "American FactFinder - Results". factfinder2.census.gov. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020.
  49. "South Euclid, Ohio (OH 44121) profile: population, maps, real estate, averages, homes, statistics, relocation, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, moving, houses, news, sex offenders". www.city-data.com.
  50. Trolio, Tony (2004). Brier Hill, USA: The Sequel. Poland, OH: Ciao Promotions.
  51. "Oklahoma's Little Italy". TravelOK.com - Oklahoma's Official Travel & Tourism Site.
  52. "Canonsburg, PA - Singing Statue of Perry Como".
  53. "Lansdale Author Pens Memoir Detailing Childhood Pranks on Newspaper in Olney Section of Philadelphia". Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  54. "COMMUNITY CALENDAR". Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  55. "Old Forge - Old Forge - Ancestry & family history - ePodunk". www.epodunk.com.
  56. "A History of Italian Americans in Salt Lake City - Cucina Toscana". June 30, 2017.
  57. "West Weber immigrant Italian family farmers helped start the old Utah monastery farm". Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  58. "MOUNTAINEER COUNTRY". www.wvculture.org.

Further reading
  • Gabaccia, Donna R. "Inventing “Little Italy” Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era 6.1 (2007): 7-41.
  • Gabaccia, Donna R. "Global geography of ‘Little Italy’: Italian neighbourhoods in comparative perspective." Modern Italy 11.1 (2006): 9-24. online
  • Garroni, Maria Susanna. "Interpreting Little Italies: Ethnicity as an Accident of Geography" in William J. Connell, and Stanislao Pugliese, eds., The Routledge History of Italian Americans (2018) pp. 163–178.
  • Tirabass, Maddalena. "The Little Italies of the early 1900s: From the Reports of Amy Bernardy" in William J. Connell, and Stanislao Pugliese, eds., The Routledge History of Italian Americans (2018) pp. 152–162.
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