Abstract:
At the beginning of the 20th-century, African American businessmen in Durham developed a business district to provide economic assistance and opportunities to the African American community. The area, which came to be known as the Black Wall Street, was located in downtown Durham on Parrish Street. A number of businesses flourished there, including the N.C. Mutual Life Insurance Company (1898) and Mechanics & Farmers Bank (1907), as well as a drugstore, tailor, barber, and beauty shops, clothing stores, and law offices. Plans to commemorate the street's local and national significance and rejuvenate the historic structures located there are underway.