Black main streets, prior to urban renewal, were bustling centers of culture and business. Not unlike the rural roadways in rural African American communities, development, in the form of urban renewal, came unevenly on and around these sites. Below are two clips from individuals who lived in urban Savannah, Georgia and experienced the fall of West Broad Street, a culture and business hub for Black Savannah. The interviews were recorded via the Remembering Black Main Streets project.
Union Station, once central to Black Savannah (GA) on West Broad Street was demolished to make way for Interstate 16.
Leroy Beavers, resident of Savannah, talks about experiencing urban renewal’s impact on West Broad Street:
http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/sohp/id/7340/rec/1
Floyd Adams Jr. was the first African American mayor of Savannah, Georgia. He remembers the irrevocable loss of black historical sites in the city:
http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/sohp/id/15928/rec/1
