Jan. 23, 2025
As a Mobile, Alabama, native with deep family roots, Eric Finley loves his community, and he tells anyone who will listen. In fact, as tour director of the Dora Franklin Finley African-American Heritage Trail (Dora is Eric's late cousin), that is his job. He proudly tells visitors that the first Mardi Gras ever held in today's United States occurred in Mobile in 1703, fifteen years before New Orleans was even founded.
However, Mobile is also known for some lasts. In 1860, it became the last city to receive a slave ship, the Clotilda, 52 years after the federal ban on such importations from Africa. The city also saw the last lynching of a Black man, when 19-year-old Michael Donald was killed by the KKK in 1981.
One thing particularly important to Eric is highlighting is Mobile's "Black Main Street."
Originally called Stone Street and renamed Davis Avenue in 1861 after Confederate President Jefferson Davis, the street was given its current name — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue — in 1986. For the first half of the 20th century, "The Avenue" was the cultural and economic hub of Mobile's African American community.
"The Avenue . . . had a day and a nightlife," Finley explains. "There were churches, schools, entertainment venues, and businesses where you could buy essential items needed from birth to burial. People either knew you or . . . treated you like they did. It was a beloved community." However, like so many similar places across the country, it rapidly declined during the 1960s, a pattern that has continued into the 21st century.
Eric Finley leads tours of Mobile, Alabama's African American culture and is a consultant to the Civil Rights and Cultural Heritage District master plan. Courtesy of Dora Franklin Finley African-American Heritage Trail.
Mobile County Commissioner Merceria Ludgood, who once worked for civil rights attorney Vernon Z. Crawford, spearheaded the county's acquisition of Crawford's former offices. Photo courtesy of Philip Walker.
The Africatown Heritage House is dedicated to preserving the history of Africatown, located a few miles north of the plan area, and the last Mobile slave ship, the Clotilda. Photo by Carmen K. Sisson/Cloudybright/Alamy.
One of several historical markers along the heritage trail, this one indicates where the Mobile slave market operated until 1860 despite the 1808 abolishment of the transatlantic slave trade. Photo by Carmen K. Sisson/Cloudybright/Alamy.
Black Main Streets, such as The Avenue or the Greenwood District, also known as "Black Wall Street," in Tulsa, Oklahoma, were eroded by federal policies of the mid-20th century, including the housing acts of 1934 and 1949, which instituted redlining and spawned "urban renewal"; the 1956 Federal Aid Highway Act, which allowed highways to be built through cities, permanently cutting off some neighborhoods; and the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
While the effects of the Civil Rights Act were largely positive, desegregation caused economic harm to Black businesses when they lost their captive market. As Freddie Stokes, a Mobile municipal court judge, put it: "Because of urban renewal . . . we've seen a huge decline. This community has been forgotten."
While Black Main Streets continue to suffer physically, economically, and socially, these places are culturally and historically significant — not just to their local African American communities, but to the nation.
"As I've gotten older and talk with young people, I've come to realize how little they know about the Civil Rights movement," Mobile County Commissioner Merceria Ludgood says. And Black Main Streets have untapped economic potential too. If revitalized and promoted, Black Main Streets can become self-sustaining destinations.
Investing in Main Street without displacement
Mobile County came up with a creative solution to revitalize The Avenue. With funds from the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), the county earmarked $3.5 million for a new Civil Rights and Cultural Heritage District master plan and its implementation.
Ludgood saw the need in her own neighborhood. "Every census cycle, my district is losing population. Because when people are able to do better, they want to move," she says. "They don't want to stay in a place that looks like it's in decline. This project is an opportunity to flip that and recast what it can look like."
One of three sections identified by the plan, the Gateway Area features several existing historic sites, proposed infill commercial and residential development, an interpretive center, and a park. Source: The Walker Collaborative & Common Ground Urban Design + Planning.
Ludgood is the driving force behind the new master plan, and Judge Stokes was brought on as the project manager representing the county. The Walker Collaborative, a Nashville-based planning firm (founded by this article's author), was selected to lead the project along with a team of consultants including architects, urban designers, planners, traffic engineers, marketing and public relations professionals, an economist, and a historian. The team engaged in historical research, an evaluation of the study area, and a heritage tourism market analysis. The planning phase culminated in a five-day charette involving community members and stakeholders.
To anchor Mobile's reimagined Black Main Street, the plan proposes a new interpretive center focusing on the area's cultural importance and an adjacent park with a stage, concessions, and restrooms. The plan developed a new logo and color palette to unify the district.
It also includes a business development strategy, projecting visitor-generated demand for an additional 52,000 square feet of commercial space in the district. The plan identifies the optimal mix of dining, retail, and entertainment uses for this new space. Future visitor demand could leverage $7.9 million in spending to support local businesses.
ARPA funds are being used to acquire key properties tied to the plan, including the law offices of iconic civil rights attorney Vernon Z. Crawford, which will be restored as part of the interpretation of the district's civil rights story. Leaders also hope to acquire the abandoned Ace Theatre, the district's only surviving theater. Depending on the results of a feasibility study, it could be restored to a dining and entertainment venue echoing the district's heyday.
Stakeholders collaborated on ideas during a public workshop held on the first day of a five-day charette. Their input informed the concept plan presented by the consulting team on the final day. Photo courtesy Philip Walker.
With all this investment, stakeholders were concerned about gentrification, more accurately called displacement. Displacement affects residents and businesses alike. But the Mobile plan suggests strategies to avoid displacement to proactively address these concerns, such as providing grants or zero-interest loans for the rehabilitation of existing housing.
The plan was presented to the County Commission and the public in September 2024. Final editing was completed in December, and the plan's adoption is imminent.
Bringing "energy and life" to Davis Avenue
Although the ink is still wet on Mobile's plan, the horizon looks brighter. "During the last community meeting, all of the smiles across the room made it evident that we had succeeded," says Stokes. "After the meeting ended, people didn't want to leave because they didn't want that positive feeling to end."
Still, Mobile County wants to temper expectations out of respect for the residents. "This is a community that has been historically overpromised and underdelivered," explains Stokes. Commissioner Ludgood emphasizes that "it took a lot of years for the area to decline, so it's going to take a long time to rebuild." She will provide a steady hand during the implementation phase.
Tour director Finley is optimistic about the plan. "It will bring energy and life back into that community," he says. "Once people start to see things happening, everyone wants to be part of it."
How planners can help Black Downtowns thrive
Many of planners' typical downtown planning strategies, like charettes, public presentations, and feedback sessions, are applicable to Black Main Streets. But planners working on Black Downtowns should proceed mindfully and use tailored approaches.
1. Team diversity is key
The professionals doing the planning, whether consultants or public sector staff, should look like the area's stakeholders. Stokes attributes the success of the Mobile project to the diversity of the team guiding the process, "which helped to build community trust." African American representation on the planning team and steering committee helps achieve credibility and buy-in.
2. Meet stakeholders where they are
Meeting venues should be highly accessible and where participants are most comfortable. Think community centers and churches rather than governmental facilities, where some stakeholders may have had negative experiences. Food, entertainment, and childcare services are always a plus.
In Mobile, considerable time was spent gathering opinions from stakeholders. Anitra Belle Henderson, a Mobile-based public relations professional and member of the consultant team, said of the process, "It was clear that people were really being heard."
3. History, preservation, and interpretation are critical
African American history has gone largely untold in the U.S., and "this type of planning project is really important for communities that have not been able to tell the story from their perspective," says Henderson.
One effective and tangible way to tell these stories is through historic buildings. In the core of Rocky Mount, North Carolina's Black Main Street, the Douglas Building and Booker T. Theatre were deteriorated and the theater vacant when the city embarked on a revitalization plan in 2004. Rocky Mount acquired the buildings and rehabilitated them. The Douglas Building now houses commercial and residential tenants, and the theater draws regular audiences as a performance venue. Both projects benefited from New Market and Historic Rehabilitation tax credits.
Other methods are interpretive centers, public art, and GPS-based digital interpretation, but most important is presenting the truth. That is the mission for the exhibit about the Clotilda, which opened in 2023 in Mobile's new Africatown Heritage House museum, a few miles north of downtown. A stakeholder in Mobile's recent planning project said, "We need to tell the story in an unvarnished way. People need to hear the truth, even when it's ugly."
Heart and Soul: Cherishing Culturally Important Places
Visitors to the Greenwood Rising History Center can immerse themselves in a barber shop experience from Tulsa's Black Wall Street era. Photo courtesy of Philip Walker.
Some land uses are culturally more significant to Black Main Streets. By listening to the stories of Black residents to help preserve and nurture these uses, planners can reinforce the area's character and interpretive value.
Churches and funeral homes
Houses of worship historically nourished the soul and provided stability for Black Downtowns. They continue to play that role and can be a critical source of information and even serve as public meeting venues. For Birmingham's Civil Rights District, the 16th Street Baptist Church is an iconic and revered place that also draws visitors.
Barber shops and hair salons
These cultural hubs can serve as a gender-based third place for socializing and discussions. In Tulsa's Greenwood Rising History Center, museum visitors can sit inside a recreated barbershop while hologram barbers trim their hair and chat with each other circa 1921.
Soul food and barbecue restaurants
Foodways are an important aspect of any culture, and thematically relevant dining can be a big tourist draw. Greenwood's Sweet Lisa's and the MLK Triangle's Soul Fusion Natchez both preserve and continue the culture of residents in or near Black Main Streets.
Theaters
During the Jim Crow era, African Americans were relegated to the balcony — the "peanut gallery" — of white theaters, so Black Main Street theaters became an important source of both entertainment and pride. The restored Booker T. Theatre in Rocky Mount's Douglas Block is now a critical anchor, hosting a wide range of films and live performances. Although Mobile's own Booker T. Theatre no longer survives, Mobile County purchased the Ace Theatre with ARPA funds.
4. Develop anchor uses
Such as interpretive centers, entertainment venues, and public spaces. Mobile County's new district plan proposes two anchors: the interpretive center and adjacent park.
In Tulsa, the Greenwood District is anchored by the Greenwood Rising History Center, and Birmingham, Alabama's Civil Rights District is anchored by the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, which features a major interpretive center. The adjacent Kelly Ingram Park was the scene of civil rights activities.
The planned Hiram Revels Plaza in Natchez, Mississippi's MLK Triangle District will take an underutilized parking area and transform it into a new public space for commemoration and interpretation. But anchors don't need to be tied to the place's history. For example, the Greenwood District's minor league baseball stadium and the Rocky Mount Events Center near the Douglas Building are thematically unrelated to their districts but are an additional draw for visitors.
5. Consider branding, business development, and promotion
If a positive and established district name does not already exist, a new one, consistent with the history, should be given, perhaps with advice from consulting professionals. Avoid long-winded names, contrived names with no basis, and names that might be confused with another district.
For a cohesive district, retail, services, dining, and entertainment businesses should be recruited based at least in part on their connection to the district's themes. When funding is available, the proposed business mix should be based on a market analysis that quantifies future demand for specific uses in terms of building square footage.
6. Anticipate gentrification concerns
In Mobile, the city's complete streets design for The Avenue, which happened separately but concurrently to the master plan, sparked some consternation. One stakeholder said, "Whatever we do, I don't want to see any bike lanes. Bike lanes lead to gentrification." Although there is no clear evidence of a cause-and-effect relationship, some stakeholders perceive this type of investment in public infrastructure as the first sign of displacement.
Instead, develop a set of displacement avoidance strategies, as was done in Mobile.
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