What was built
- Established or development period
- 1870s–1900s
- Peak period
- 1920s–1950s
- Who built the community
- Black professionals, fraternal orders and merchants of Little Rock.
- Black population
- The commercial center for Black residents across central Arkansas.
- Businesses
- Dozens of Black-owned businesses, offices and shops along the corridor.
- Financial institutions
- The Mosaic Templars of America, a national Black fraternal and insurance organization headquartered on the street.
- Churches
- Bethel A.M.E. and other congregations.
- Schools
- Not yet documented
- Hospitals
- Not yet documented
- Newspapers
- The Arkansas State Press, published by L.C. and Daisy Bates.
- Entertainment & cultural institutions
- The Gem Theater, Dreamland Ballroom and the Taborian Hall.
- Other community institutions
- Not yet documented
- Black land & property ownership
- Black-owned commercial buildings including the Mosaic Templars headquarters and Taborian Hall.
- Economic significance
- The Black commercial capital of Arkansas.
What happened
- What happened?
- Construction of Interstate 630 in the 1960s and 1970s cut through West Ninth Street, and urban renewal cleared much of what remained. The district's buildings were largely demolished; Taborian Hall survives.
- Trigger or precipitating event
- Interstate 630 routing and urban renewal designation.
- Underlying historical context
- Highway routing through Black business districts and federally funded clearance.
- Method of destruction / displacement
- Highway · Urban Renewal · Eminent Domain
- Date or period of destruction
- 1960s–1970s
- Confirmed / documented deaths
- Not yet documented
- Estimated deaths
- Not yet documented
- People displaced
- Hundreds of households and most of the district's businesses.
- Homes destroyed
- Not yet documented
- Businesses destroyed
- The great majority of the corridor's Black-owned businesses.
- Acres or property lost
- Not yet documented
Afterward
- What happened to the land?
- Interstate right-of-way and vacant parcels.
- Was compensation paid?
- Condemnation payments for takings.
- Was the community rebuilt?
- No
- What was rebuilt?
- Not yet documented
- Destroyed or displaced again?
- Not yet documented
- Second displacement date
- Not yet documented
- Second displacement cause
- Not yet documented
- What exists there today?
- Taborian Hall and the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, a state museum on the original headquarters site.
- Descendant, reparation & restoration efforts
- The Mosaic Templars Cultural Center and Ninth Street heritage programming.
- Historical significance
- A state's principal Black business district largely erased by a single interstate.
Sources
- Source lookupFind
Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism
- Book or scholarly workFind
Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Central Arkansas Library System
- Source lookupFind
Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department, I-630 records
"Find" opens a focused search for legacy references that do not have a stable link; "Open" goes directly to the source.
Last verified: 2026-09-20. This is a living historical collection. Additional communities and documentation will be added as research and verification continue.