Gypsy Lane forms the northern border of Youngstown. I always thought that was an interesting name. Why Gypsy?
I couldn’t find out much about this, but there is one oral history by a North Side resident, John Manning, who speaks of a settlement of Gypsies in the vicinity of the intersection of Belmont Avenue and what became known as Gypsy Lane. He claims that’s where the name came from. He states there were old fairgrounds in that area and this is where they arrived when they came to Youngstown.
I cannot find any other confirmation of this information, but Steve Piskor, who has written a history of Hungarian Slovak Gypsies in America, states that between 1885 and 1910, Hungarian-Slovak Gypsies settled in Braddock, Homestead, Uniontown, and Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Cleveland and Youngstown, Gary, Indiana, as well as New York City. On his website, he has a picture of a Gypsy orchestra of Gypsies in Youngstown. Underneath he says these Gypsies or Roma migrated from Kassa, Hungary (which is now the largest city in eastern Slovakia, but then part of Hungary). He says they lived in Youngstown for about thirty years and then most moved to Cleveland to join the larger community there, the largest in the country.
One of the stereotypes the Gypsies (also called Roma or Romani) faced was that of thievery or con artistry. What was distinctive about them was the music, and every community had its orchestra. They were known for their fiddlers and their music influenced Franz Liszt, Bela Bartok, and Zoltan Kodaly. Chris Haigh has posted an extensive history of this music down to the present.
But who were these people? Most histories trace their origin to Northern India. They migrated first to Persia and then arrived in Europe in the Middle Ages. Many at the time thought they came from Egypt, hence the name “Gypsies.” But both genetic and linguistic evidence point to a North Indian origin. The Hungarian-Slovak Gypsies migrated to the U.S. in the late 1800’s.
I would love to know more about the history of this group in the city, and wonder if there are any descendants still living in the Valley. And it would be interesting to confirm that Gypsy Lane owes its name to a real Gypsy community in the city.
To read other posts in the Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown series, just click “On Youngstown.” Enjoy!
Bob on Books 
I, too, always wondered about the name of that road. (Not sure if the stereotype is appropriate or not…but just passing down a story from my father…) My father, who grew up in Campbell (East Youngstown) used to tell us that they would set up a concert in town,and while everyone was there, they would steal your chickens!
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My mom….Hilda Fish Broida, born 1913, when I asked her how our street—-we lived at 357 Gypsy Lane—-got its name, she said that Gypsies lived at Gypsy Lane and Belmont Ave.
Now living in Philadelphia and there are several Gypsy Lanes, and I presume these streets got their names for the same reason.
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A number have said the same thing, giving more credence to the account I saw.
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To learn more about Gypsies in America, see the film “Angelo My Love”, written and directed by Robert Duvall.
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Good suggestion
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To learn more about Gypsies in America, see the film “Angelo My Love”, written and directed by Robert Duvall. David Broida
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I posted 2 replies but they seem to have been deleted
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I see three replies, two of them the same.
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As a kid, my dentist’s office was on Gypsy Lane. Not sure how and why we drove all the way up from Canfield to Gypsy Lane, but the name stayed with me as well.
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I was told that Gypsy Lane was established as a borderline to keep the people from the Gypsy community out of the City of Youngstown
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Ironic that Gypsy Lane grew to become a fashionable home address with a large hospital facility and a beautiful golf course along its path. We had relatives who lived near Gypsy Lane. One family on the Youngstown side, two on the Liberty Township side.
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I do remember my parents mentioning the old fairgrounds out that way. This would have been in the late 60s or early 70s. But sorry, no specifics about gypsies there. They did mention the gypsies and how they moved around. Were the Tambouritzans connected with those groups? My parents went to see them whenever they could. My uncle and aunt bought their home and land even further off of Belmont Avenue, on the way to the airport. That area was basically old farmlands.
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A few years ago I saw an episode of My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding which was filmed in Youngstown featuring a young Gypsy woman and her family. I just found it online. Hope the link works for you, if not, search it. My dad was Hungarian growing up in Campbell, and I do remember him mentioning Gypsies living in the area. https://fb.watch/gbPa-h4pyV/
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My family is from Campbell and I remember my mom, grandma and aunts telling me you always had to lock the doors when the gypsies came to town. They would wander around Campbell door to door, play music and steal.
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Great article and comments! Always wondered about the origins of the name. Had assumed that Gypsies lived along the street way back when it was probably a dirt road.
I grew up on Gypsy Lane and am wondering if anyone has old family pics that show some of the houses and golf course back in the late Twenties through Sixties. I had taken several pics in the mid-70s when I was a kid, with my new Kodak pocket camera, but unfortunately, they were lost years later.
We lived at 227 Gypsy, which was one of the first houses built, in 1927. We moved into it in 1967 when I was 3 years old, and I remember entering that big front door for the first time. My brother and I immediately ran up the front stairs that were to the right. It had a beautiful wood banister and several years later we met the gentleman who made it. My parents were having new wallpaper installed and some of the rooms painted, and the person they hired brought a helper, a retired craftsman who when he first entered the house told my father “I’ve been here before.” Turns out he built the banister! He said the owners of the house were a German couple and the husband was very particular about everything constructed.
Some years later I remember my mother saying that she wished she could pick our house up and move it to Warner Road so that it would have lots of land around it. The irony is that when it was first built, there were few, if any houses on Gypsy and none on Outlook Avenue behind us, so the house initially rested on that idyllic property that she dreamed of. And to this day it has always had that beautiful golf course across the street.
After my siblings and I were grown, my mother took a few classes at YSU, one of which was an art class. I think it was there that she met a lady who was an artist, and my mother mentioned to her our house and inquired about commissioning a watercolor of it. The artist came by to see the house and immediately and enthusiastically said she would do it for free! That watercolor now hangs in my house, and I love it and all that it represents.
Stambaugh Golf Course is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Wonder if they have any old pics of the golf course, with Gypsy Lane in the backdrop. Need to pay them a visit next time in town.
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