Foreign Villages in U.S.
 

I'm researching foreign villages in the U.S. and was wondering if anyone could help me. I'm looking for towns that have maintained, or regained, their original ethnic influence. Like German mountain towns with German restaurants and shops where you can buy authentic German wares and hear the language and see native dress.

Do you only mean German, or was that just an example.
Something that comes immediately to mind is Solvang, California -- "Danish capital of the US" or something like that, but I wouldn't regard it as what you're really talking about -- more of a tourist attraction. We got a big kick out a girl working in a store in "authentic" costume with the strongest "valley girl" accent who was simply uncomfortable in this entire setting. We asked if she had lived there long and she whined, "no, I'm just here on my summer break to earn college money."

Tarpon Springs, Florida stil has a very strong Greek heritage, but again most of it seems more "put on" for the tourists than actually still living with their customs in daily life.

While there may be some places that still celebrate their heritage at certain special events, I can't picture anything of what you're talking about, although Amish and similar settlements do still exist and are very authentic.

In Michigan:

Greektown - a small section of Detroit, and yes, inhabited by those of Greek decent.
Hamtramick - Largely Polish city, just outside of Detroit.
Frankenmuth - A German town.
Holland - City with many of Dutch decent.

I'm sure there are others.

Astoria in Queens NYC - Greek
Flushing in Queens NYC - Korean and Chinese

I'm familiar with all those Paul mentions, but I consider both Holland and Frankenmuth to be sort of like Solvang -- more keeping those things as a tourist attraction. I could be wrong, but I've known several people from Holland, Mich. and I never got the idea that there are many people who still speak the language from day to day or dress in native costumes except for parades and tourist activities.

On the other hand the two sections of Detroit you mention are pretty authentic. That makes me think -- the real settlements where people keep their old ways probably are more in major cities, not in individual towns.
We rode out to Queens in New York to have dinner at a Greek restaurant, and walking along the street practically all I heard was Greek, stores carried lots of Greek imports, and quite a few signs were in Greek --clearly for the sake of the locals, not for the sake of tourists. New York is filled with those pockets, as are many other large cities. Maybe I'm analyzing too much, but perhaps people who settled their own small towns in the US were trying more to become "American" rather than to keep their own native traditions.

Historic Bethlehem (the historic center of Bethlehem, PA) still strongly maintains the influence of its Moravian settlers. Many of the 18th century traditions are still kept, particularly during Advent--the trombone choirs, the lovefeast, the music, etc.

Winston-Salem, NC is also home to a large Moravian population, like the previously mentioned Bethlehem, PA. The city has restored the original village of Salem as Old Salem, an historic district consisting of more than 90 restored original buildings -- Winston-Salem actually has more authentic colonial era buildings than Williamsburg, VA.

While there are plenty of Moravians in Winston-Salem, it's not as though they're any different from anyone else. In Old Salem, however, where most of the buildings retain their original functions as homes and businesses, there are several buildings that comprise a tourist district where costumed docents in colonial dress demonstrate the lifestyles of the original Moravians of Salem.

I'm very surprised about German Village in Columbus. I lived in Dayton in the 1970's when German Village was being "restored". All the properties were being bought up by "yuppies" who wanted to live there, and many trendy restaurants and bars opened -- only a few with even a German theme. Are there really still any Germans living there? I haven't been in about 30 years, but back then it was totally not Germans!

Lake, directly from that website you gave:
"Though it is no longer any more German than any other part of Columbus. . ."

According to the website the main goal is "preserving architectural heritage", and from what I know they've done a good job with that, but only the name has anything to do with German heritage.

No offense, but I don't think German Village is what innesfreeil was talking about.

OK, Lake, I know several of those tourist restaurants and they are great -- we used to eat at Schmidt's 30 years ago!!!
But if you'll read the original post, innesfreeil was talking about "towns that have maintained, or regained, their original ethnic influence." Does this really sound like German village to you? I defer to you since you've been there much more recently than I. But I still say I'm amazed to find out that it is mainly inhabited by Germans who maintain their original ethnic influence.

Gee, I hope you're not being argumentitive due to that other post where we seemed to have a disagreement. If I'm wrong I admit it. Again I say I'm just very surprised that German Village has done a complete turnaround since the 1970's. And I thought that quote in the German Village website DID refer to the entire neighborhood. Maybe I'm wrong, but it IS THEIR OWN leading statement on the website describing their goals and their history.

Thank you Lake for your honest assessment. I guess it has changed drastically from the 1970's when the majority of residents were young lawyers, doctors, etc -- not of German descent. It is refreshing to know that they turned it back around for a true reflection of German heritage. But I wish someone would tell the official governing body of German Village so they can remove that statement that clearly says in error, "though it is no longer any more German than any other part of Columbus" . That false statement really should be corrected.

May I suggest that both of you gentleman are correct? I, too, am a former Columbus resident. I graduated from Ohio State and was a Columbus police officer for four years. One of the areas I patrolled was German Village.

My impression of the area was that the current residents were indeed mostly yuppies. However, the area was originally populated by German immigrants, fell into disrepair after World War I, and has gradually been restored over the past 50 years. Since the original poster asked for villages that have &quot;maintained or <i>regained</i> their original ethnic influence&quot;, perhaps innesfreeil and others may be interested in visiting German Village when in Columbus.

Although the current focus is on maintaining the architectural influence of German Village, this influence came about because at one time the area was populated primarily by German immigrants. Today, though, I think it would be rare to find someone speaking German or wearing native dress in German Village. There are, however, authentic German restaurants such as Schmidts Sausage Haus which has been family owned for the past four or five generations. There is also Schiller Park, which has been there for generations as well.

German Village is not everyone's cup of tea, and many people think it is overrated and overpriced. I enjoyed working there and took many out-of-town visitors there, who enjoyed it as well.

It sounds as though there must be a number of areas where German immigration took root and maintained at least some of it's past.

I grew up in a small town just outside of St. Louis, Missouri and there's a string of smaller town running along both sides of the Missouri River valley leading all the way out to Jefferson City that long retained that heritage. My grandparents still spoke only German through the 1960s and 70s even through they were 3rd and 4th generation American. My parents generation was the first to attend gov't schools and they were the ones to teach their parents English. Of course, when English speaking teachers were brought in, they were also taught that everything they were doing was wrong, including how they pronounced their own last names. Thus began a loss of some of that heritage.

Still, there's a string of town leading away from St. Charles, MO (where the town still has a main street built by the French im the early 1700's) down the river valley through small towns with names like Treloar, Holstein, Augusta, Dutzow, Defiance. Many of these towns have wineries and vineyards, as the immigrants mostly came from the Rhine Valley in Germany. Pretty little towns but no castles and certainly everyone speaks English now. They lead out to the town of Hermann, which has a beautiful old winery in the center of town called Stone Hill Winery. The town is bigger and has a great Maifest every year.