The Hungarian Ohioans are Hungarian Americans living in Ohio. Their number was 193,951 in 2006.[1] Fairport Harbor, Ohio is 11.8 % Hungarian American. In Cleveland and its neighboring areas there live more than 130,000 Hungarians.[2] Some resources stated that there was time when Cleveland was the second greatest Hungarian settlement.[3] Most of the Hungarians live in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, where they make up 4.4 % of the total population.[4] There is also a large colony of Hungarians in Toledo, Ohio. Two local representatives reside in Toledo: Peter Ujvagi and Matt Szollosi. In Toledo one can find the famous Tony Packo's Cafe.
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During the 19th and the 20th century a lot of Hungarian people emigrated to the United States, and one of the final destinations was Ohio. In 1900 there were about 17,000 Hungarians in Ohio.[5] By 1920 their number grew to 73,181. Although they arrived before the first World War, there were still two large waves of Hungarian immigration: after the second World War and after the 1956 revolution. In more recent decades, the Hungarian communities started melting and moving to other places in Ohio, but their presence is still significant.
Most of the Hungarian immigrants settled down on the coastline of Lake Erie and in Cleveland, particularly along Buckeye Road,a neighborhood once nicknamed Little Hungary, which at one time boasted the largest population of Hungarians outside Budapest.[6] At the end of the 19th century there already were six Hungarian communities in Cleveland which organized their own churches. In 1900 precisely 9,558 Hungarian lived in Cleveland, which meant the 8 % of the non-aboriginal population of the city.[3] By 1920 their number grew to 43,134 (18 % of the non-aboriginal population).[3] Theodore Kuntz, who arrived in 1873, founded a factory where 2,500 Hungarians worked. Soon he became one of the wealthiest men in Cleveland. In 1890 he raised a Hungaria Hall on Clark Avenue. The building is still standing as of 2010. In 1920 there were more than 300 Hungarian-owned factories and 81 associations in Cleveland.[3] Between 1947 and 1953, 6,000 Hungarians settled in the city; the earlier Hungarians immigrants helped them to assimilate.[5] In the 1980s there were 113,000 Hungarians in Cleveland, but by 1990 the number fell to 61,681. At that time 924 Hungarian organizations were present in Cleveland.[3]
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