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Neat story and shows the breadth of Italian immigration to America. Everybody knows about vibrant Italian communities in NYC, Philly, Boston, Chicago, and to a lesser extent San Francisco and New Orleans. But so many other places were destinations for Italian immigrants. https://twitter.com/DavidJHudsonJC/status/1340324995944361987
Many came over as stone-cutters, for example, and worked in the marble works in places like Barre, Vermont. https://www.timesargus.com/news/italians-in-barre-the-early-years/article_7d02ddcd-57de-5b96-8796-f25a2f1abeb1.html
Or the slate belt of Rosetto, PA near Bangor and the Delaware Water Gap. (Garibaldi Avenue!) http://boroughroseto.com/history/
Or the coal mines and glass works of West Virginia. https://wvtourism.com/did-you-know-about-west-virginias-deep-italian-heritage/
Or various agricultural communities in Texas. https://texasalmanac.com/topics/culture/italian/italian-texans
Most Italians moved to cities like the above mentioned, as well as Providence, Detroit, Baltimore, PGH, St. Louis, Denver (miners originally), and many other places. The late 19th c. and early 20th c. Italian diaspora also populated Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil.
Another is the post-WWII Italian community in the Wittenoom asbestos mines of Australia. This community faced tragic levels of mesothelioma. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28756413/
Some settled in Tripoli in Libya, one of the few Italian colonies.
So traditions like fig tree gardens and certain regional cuisines can be traced to the Italian diaspora, and often in places not typically known for being heavily Italian American.
