About this Event
Acre for acre. Black Bottom is the most significant historic neighborhood in the state of Michigan.
The history includes the Indigenous Anishinaabe people who lived there before Europeans arrived in Detroit. It also is important when the French arrive in 1701.
The French farmers would name the area "Fond Noir" - Black Bottom.
It would be highly important for European immigrants from Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, and Greece. But its importance for African Americans in Detroit is what this neighborhood is most known for.
The neighborhood received a Michigan Historical Marker in 2021, and is the subject of books, research projects and the Black Bottom Street View project by Emily Kutil.
Black Bottom has been a major topic of interest in the past few years!
We meet at Lafayette Central Park - on Lafayette Street between Ducharme Place and 1300 E. Lafayette Cooperative Apartments - across the street from Chrysler Elementary School.
We will take a tour that tells the history of Black Bottom. We will then go to the Dequindre Cut to see the Black Bottom Street View Project - a photographic recreation of the streets and sites of Black Bottom. Tour Price - $10
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Lafayette Central Park, 1500 East Lafayette Street, Detroit, United States