How Memphis neighborhoods have changed (Bartlett, Germantown: schools, gated, closing)

[Chris Balducci]

One of my interests is in the history of Memphis neighborhoods, and how they have changed over the years. In most cases, neighborhoods that were originally all-white are now all-black, or very close to it. One interesting neighborhood is centered around the Gethsemane Garden Church of God in Christ:

Vollintine Hills Historic District - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If you are black and live in this neighborhood, your neighborhood was originally built for Orthodox Jewish Memphians who could be within walking distance of the old Baron Hirsch Synagogue.
Another clue as to whether or not a black neighborhood was once white is by its churches. You can often tell which church was orginally built for a white congregation by the way it looks. The stereotypical white Protestant church is built with brick, has columns in front and a tall, pointed steeple, like the Whitehaven United Methodist Church:

Google Maps

I just found a link to an article about the church that appreared in the Commercial Appeal in 2009:

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news...weet-solution/

If you are a black Memphian living in a once all-white neighborhood, I'd like to know. God bless.

[Tigertate]

With Memphis being segregated, for the most part, up to the 1960s I would imagine there are many formerly "all white", or better stated "white only" neighborhoods that are now mostly black. I wonder which areas of Memphis and Shelby County were formerly all black, but now heavily populated by white residents?

[Chris Balducci]

Originally Posted by Tigertate

With Memphis being segregated, for the most part, up to the 1960s I would imagine there are many formerly "all white", or better stated "white only" neighborhoods that are now mostly black. I wonder which areas of Memphis and Shelby County were formerly all black, but now heavily populated by white residents?

As Memphis expanded, and when people moved out of Memphis, they moved into rural areas that had black settlements. The best way to tell where they were is to look for an old black church (M.B., A.M.E., C.M.E, etc.) and cemetery in the suburbs. Here is the website for the New Shelby M.B. Church on the north side of Collierville. Although the building is relatively new, the congregation has been there since the 1870s, according to the history link:

http://newshelbymbchurch.com/main.html?src=%2F


God bless,

CKB

[the_commuter]

Originally Posted by Tigertate

With Memphis being segregated, for the most part, up to the 1960s I would imagine there are many formerly "all white", or better stated "white only" neighborhoods that are now mostly black. I wonder which areas of Memphis and Shelby County were formerly all black, but now heavily populated by white residents?

Don't quote me on this, but I think that Arlington once had a more sizable African American population. I don't know if it was ever majority-AA, but there was a sizable AA population there at one point -- obviously very rural and agriculture-focused. (Arlington was, as I understand it, once much more akin to Mason, Covington, and even Brownsville than to Memphis and the other suburban communities.)

[BirdieBelle]

Arlington was never even mentioned as a suburb of Memphis while I was growing up in the '70s and '80s. People knew about Lakeland because of the pool and water park, but Germantown was the premier suburb, with Raleigh and Bartlett coming in next. Collierville was considered WAY out of town and not a suburb or exurb at all.

[Chris Balducci]

Another long-ago white neighborhood in Memphis was in south Memphis, centered on Trigg Avenue. The old St. Thomas Catholic Church and Convent were there until closing in 1965. The church has been used by black Protestant congregations, but may be vacant now. The complex is on Tennessee's National Register of Historic Places:

East Trigg Avenue, Memphis, TN - Google Maps

God bless,

CKB

[jaydarl]

From stories my father has told me about growing up in North Memphis during the 40s & 50s, it was actually more integrated neighborhood wise than it is now. How there were two white families that lived on his block and around the corner was a "white" street. That the black and white families interacted with each other as neighbors. Of course, there was very little socialization beyond that, i.e. schools, churches, etc. School integration resulted in whites moving out faster than Usain Bolt running the 100 meter dash. To this day, you can see the obvious differences between where the whites and blacks lived even though the neighborhood is completely black. Fifty+ years later, not much has changed.