I saw an exhibit at the Broad Museum which included displays from minority communities in Lansing. This included some photos and stories about the building of 496. They displayed a story about the video "They Even Took the Dirt" about the neighborhood that was taken down for the highway. I know the video had been around for a while, but this is the first time I saw it. I was just a kid, but the pictures really sparked my memories. The west side was mainly black folks [not all] but it was not a slum by any means. It was really very nice. It is sad to think of what a racist community Lansing was. Check it out if you have not.
Came across this photo on the historical society's facebook looking up Logan (MLK) at St. Joseph around 1972. gb, you've talked about this area, before.
Church was a COGIC at the time, but was originally Mayflower Congregational. Though it's almost completely unrecognizable, now, you can see the hill you have to ascend to get up to wear Lenawee used to cross.
This shows Logan Street looking north. It is interesting to see that all the cars in this photo are American! There is a badass Camaro next to a Firebird, behind a Cutlass. Those early safety bumpers on the Olds look like an afterthought. It still kind of hurts to see pictures of this area, to me they removed my Lansing to build a couple of under used highways. It is funny but I still have dreams about walking around the neighborhood were all the houses are gone except for one or two on each block, in my dream I feel lost.
I wish I'd thought to post here sooner to bring attention to others, but the Westside Neighborhood Association (WNA) put on a walking tour of Sexton today, which was absolutely wonderful. It sounds like they want to have additional tours, focused on specific features of the building, so keep and eye out for future ones (if you're interested). Based on the presence of the HSGL, I can only assume they partnered with them. It was a great opportunity to tour a very important historical structure in our community.
Comments
https://content.civicplus.com/api/assets/2fbd3892-820b-4b83-8e7a-f6be6e80bb96
@Lymon89 Thanks for the compliments
Church was a COGIC at the time, but was originally Mayflower Congregational. Though it's almost completely unrecognizable, now, you can see the hill you have to ascend to get up to wear Lenawee used to cross.