In 1805 the first church, Saint Dionysios was built. In the 1830s Drapetsona was constituted of people who moved from Greek islands and settled near Saint Dionysios church in the area called Vourla. In 1834 a part of the region was given to Piraeus in order to become a cemetery under the term of churches’ reconstruction. Also a great number of
brothels was established in 1873 to the west of Saint Dionysios. After the 1922
Asia Minor Catastrophe there was a notable population increase. Drapetsona was part of the municipality of Piraeus until 1950, when it became a separate community. It was elevated to municipality status in 1951. Since 19th century Drapetsona has become an important part of the Piraeus industrial area. The first major port facility was the Vasileiadis Shipyard, founded in 1898. Subsequently, other industries were established: a fertilizer factory, a plaster factory, a cement factory, a tannery and more recently installations of petroleum companies (
Shell,
Mobil,
BP). There are plans to redevelop a section of the Drapetsona seafront on the
Saronic Gulf, the location of the former industrial complex, including the now abandoned
Kanellopoulos Institute of Chemistry and Agriculture. The plans call for utilisation of the area for tourism, business and water sports, including a maritime business centre, a convention centre, a technology museum and two marinas. ==Historical population==