How many people lived in Detroit’s Black Bottom? When I first started researching Paradise Valley and Black Bottom, I wanted to know basic facts, including population and racial composition. What I learned is that there is a lot of confusion about this topic, and sources vary significantly.
An article in City Journal stated: “In Detroit’s Black Bottom, once home to 140,000 black residents…” (https://www.city-journal.org/article/rock-bottom).
Other citations included a population of 100,000 people in Black Bottom and another stated 130,000 people.
As a city planner, my review of Sanborn maps and other housing data for the area led me to believe that all of these estimates were not correct – they were too high. Maybe there was some confusion about the boundaries of Black Bottom.
The best way to understand the complete story is to review the 1950 U.S. Census data. This was the year that Detroit reached its peak population, and the extensive freeway system and many urban renewal projects had not yet been constructed.
This first graphic shows the four census tracts that most closely align with the boundaries of Black Bottom. The second graphic shows the overlay of Black Bottom. Note that Black Bottom extends slightly more to the west, one additional block to Brush Street. Also, the census tracts extend to the Detroit River, not to Larned, the southern boundary of Black Bottom.
Looking at the 1950 census data for these four tracts, the total population was 14,060, compared to 13,317 in 1940. Additional research into these census tracts revealed more about housing conditions. For example, over half the dwellings had no running water or dilapidated water conditions vs. 4.2 percent city-wide. Almost 60 percent had no private bath or had dilapidated bath conditions vs. about 9 percent city-wide. By all accounts, Black Bottom was a close-knit community of people who were mostly renters, and they had little direct control over the quality of their housing conditions.
An article in the Detroit Free Press confirmed that when a substantial portion of the land area of Black Bottom was cleared to make way for new development (later known as Lafayette Park) “officials condemned the homes of 7,897 people — 92% of them renters, who received no compensation. Many of the 1,200 buildings were owned by white Detroiters, who were paid for their loss.” The census data showed there were 2,829 dwelling units in the four tracts, and these tracts included a portion of the riverfront and Greektown (the western end of Black Bottom).
I acknowledge that the accuracy of census data has been challenged, particularly in urban areas. Some reports have suggested an undercount of the Black population by as much as 8 percent. It is possible that it could have been even more.
The Near East side of Detroit, east of Woodward, just north and east of the downtown core, has historically been home to many African Americans. The census tract data for this area, extending north to East Grand Boulevard and east to the Dequindre Cut, shows that every census tract had a majority Black population in 1950 except tract 504 in Black Bottom, which includes the multi-cultural Greektown area. In 1950, the total population of this area was 99,387 and the Black population was 82,849. If this area is extended one more census tract to the east, to Chene – an area shown in light green on the map below – the total population was 133,949 and the Black population was 103,943. The three northern tracts in this light green extension area were majority White, reflecting proximity to Poletown, home to many of Detroit’s Polish immigrants, and the southern tracts were majority Black.
I invite you to continue to follow my journey as I research and share information about Detroit, its city planning history, and more.
My Detroit History page is found here. My latest presentation on this research is entitled “Rhythms of Resilience and Change in Detroit: The Impact of Music, Goverance, Racism, and the Tenacity of Detroiters on Paradise Valley and Black Bottom.”