My father, George Cokinos and Billie Stathes became friends when she was five, and he was six years old. She remembers the day they met at St. Sophia's Greek Orthodox Church- then the hub of the Greek community. (George didn't learn to speak English until he went to kindergarten.) His uncle, Adam Cokinos opened a candy shop at 9th and K some time around the turn of the century and then sent for his brother, Peter, George's father, to come join him in 1905. Another brother, Alec came sometime later and ended up living next to the church and being the caretaker.
Billie recently attended my father's funeral in Washington- flying in from her home in Florida where she is a retired teacher, a writer and a translator of Greek. She sent me this amazing map which was made by her cousin, Nick Chacos.
Between the two of them, they have set the gold standard for memory. Billie also included this narrative:
From 1922 until 1933 I called the two blocks of Eighth Street near Mt. Vernon Square where I lived-"the village". Mount Vernon Square with a beautiful park and a library was our landmark for an every day visit after school.
On the corner of 8th and L was the Greek Orthodox Church. There was a social hall in the basement where dances for teenagers were held every Friday night. You had to be fourteen to attend. Next to the church was a small two story house where the caretaker, Alec and his wife, Koula Cokinos lived. Their home was always open for cookies and a visit.
All of the houses on the right were brownstones, three or four stories high. On the left was a row of small homes where the colored folk lived. We all played together.
Dr. Fred Repetti, the village doctor lived on 8th and L. Every family went to him for advice and medicine. During prohibition, he would give prescriptions for bourbon, Four Roses and rum. The drugstore at the other corner gladly filled them in medicine bottles. We made wine in our basement every year, and even the policemen would be waiting for it. Around the corner on M street was the grocery store and the Chinese laundry. We were very nasty to the Chinese boy.
Our pride and joy was the corner of 8th and M where there were four gas stations. We were very very proud of them. No one on our blocks owned an automobile. We would go to the corner every day to look at the marvelous cars which stopped for gas. Two blocks were torn down in the late 1930s taking our village with them.
(9th and L today)
I walked the neighborhood last month and found the library remains intact-although now it houses The Historical Society of Washington. The library was built with funds from Andrew Carnegie in 1905. The new convention center has obliterated blocks of history- only a few signs remain with pictures and anecdotes of the way things were.
(There's a heritage trail sign just to the left of this building on the corner of 9th and M.)
St. Sophia's moved uptown- just off Massachusetts's Avenue where it stands today. The current building was designed by Billie's cousin, Socrates Stathes.
Click on the maps above to see details of the little neighborhood that was.
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