Neighborhood Spotlight: Historic South-Central looks toward growth in several directions

"From the late 1800s to the 1910s, most newly arrived African American Angelenos took up residence in the historic center of the city, in an area near Spring Street known as the "Brick Block." There the community organized itself around the landholdings of former slave and L.A. pioneer Biddy Mason, who was one of the co-founders of the First AME church."

"By 1915, the California Eagle, the preeminent African American newspaper of the time, was already calling the neighborhood along Central Avenue the "Black belt of the city." The neighborhood's proximity to downtown job centers, affordable single-family homes and L.A.'s extensive streetcar service drew an influx of new residents from other parts of the city and from the South."

"It was in the 1940s, however that L.A.'s version of the Great Migration began in earnest, as African Americans from across the country headed west, drawn by jobs created by the war-driven manufacturing boom. Central Avenue was overwhelmed by the sheer number of new residents, as restrictive racial covenants kept the neighborhood boundaries from naturally expanding."

African Americans arriving in Los Angeles from the late 1800s initially settled in the Brick Block near Spring Street, organized around Biddy Mason's landholdings and the First AME church. As this area declined, residents and businesses relocated south and east to Central Avenue, which by 1915 was recognized as the city's "Black belt." The neighborhood attracted residents through proximity to downtown jobs, affordable housing, and streetcar access. The 1940s Great Migration intensified this concentration as African Americans fled the South for wartime manufacturing jobs. Racial restrictive covenants prevented neighborhood expansion, creating a densely concentrated community from Central Avenue to Little Tokyo that generated significant cultural and economic vitality.

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