February 17, 2025
From the mid-1800s to the Seventies, an space of Murfreesboro had an array of Black-owned companies.
A Black enterprise district in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, has lastly gotten its overdue recognition with a historic plaque.
As Black Historical past Month continues on, downtown Murfreesboro is honoring its historical past of Black entrepreneurs championing the town. From the mid-1800s to the Seventies, its streets had numerous Black-owned companies and patrons to match. Residents nonetheless keep in mind its previous days the place Black individuals might thrive regardless of dwelling within the Jim Crow south.
“I’m from Rutherford County – been right here all my life,” defined native resident Mary Watkins to WKRN. “Households can be right here. They might go into the Black enterprise institutions, purchase burgers, all that type of stuff had pool halls right here.”
This historical past has stayed with Watkins all through her lifetime. She now hopes to maintain this recognition alive. Earlier than stepping down because the President of the African American Heritage Society of Rutherford County, Watkins and others ensured its legacy with a brand new plaque honoring the enterprise district.
She added “The younger technology and the generations to return have to know whose shoulders they’re standing on.”
Companies from groceries to physician’s places of work and funeral properties thrived on the land. It introduced in prospects from a close-by residential space additionally traditionally often called “The Bottoms,” given the identify resulting from its flooding points and combination of poor Black and white individuals.
Whereas dwelling within the space, its retail streets handled Black prospects with a respect seldom discovered elsewhere.
“This was it for us (Black individuals), as a result of we couldn’t go at the moment to a whole lot of different institutions and sit down and eat though when you might go to a retailer and purchase one thing however then you definitely couldn’t sit down,” she mentioned. “Right here we have been at dwelling.”
Its plaque, paid for by Primary Road Murfreesboro, serves as a long-lasting reminder of the companies that got here earlier than. These outlets shut down over time resulting from quite a few components, akin to desegregation, city renewal and gentrification.
Regardless of this, these corporations stay revered for providing a dignified expertise alongside their common companies.
“We’re all concerning the preservation of historic downtown and meaning telling the tales from downtown’s previous,” defined Sarah Callender, govt director of Primary Road Murfreesboro. “I feel the significance is remembering the tales from the previous, studying from errors of the previous and celebrating these individuals like she mentioned who we stand on their shoulders.”
The 2 events are nonetheless looking for images of this storied district, encouraging these with info to contact the Heritage Society.
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