On the left, a young boy rides a
scooter down the street while
two people stand near a car
between 1016 and 1020 Riopelle
St. on Aug. 31, 1949, in Black
Bottom. On the right is City
Place, an apartment complex
whose parking lot and outdoor
living space cover the area
where Riopelle St. used to run.
(Color Photo: Detroit Free
Press)
Officials
mull
marker
for
razed
Detroit
neighborhood
DETROIT
-
History
officials
are
seeking
public
input on
a
potential
marker
for
Detroit’s
former
Black
Bottom
neighborhood.
The
Detroit
Historical
Society’s
Black
Historic
Sites
Committee
plans to
host
Michigan
History
Center
representatives
Monday
evening
for a
two-hour
discussion
. The
Michigan
Historical
Commission
wants
ideas
about
what the
marker
would
say and
where
one
would be
placed.
Black
Bottom
was a
predominantly
black
neighborhood
demolished
in the
1960s
for a
freeway
and
mixed-income
development,
Lafayette
Park.
Once
home to
an
Eastern
European
Jewish
community,
it and
the
neighboring
Paradise
Valley
district
became a
hub of
black-owned
businesses
and
featured
a
nationally
known
music
scene.
The
area
suffered
economic
decline
and was
razed to
combat
what the
city
then
called
“urban
blight.”
Black
Bottom
was
named
for the
area’s
native
rich and
marshy
soils.
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