This is Whitehall Street looking north and south from McDaniel Street. Sanborn maps show this as a residential area until the 1930s, at which point most of the residences on the street had been replaced by warehouse buildings and manufacturing buildings. A trolley ran down the street until about the 1940s. Though the Sanborn maps did not show it I found pictures and references on-line to retail and even a hotel from the 30s and 40s. Though I did not take a picture of it (because people were sitting out front) there seems to an SRO hidden behind one of the buildings. I tried to show the street's proximity to the CBD in the other two pictures. I think the overall neglect of the area is evident in the photos. The buildings on the south side of the street are empty. Not pictured are mounds of garbage in the spaces between the buildings, most of which have asphalt on them and speak to ad hoc parking, long abandoned. This may have been a viable street until about the 1950s when the neighborhoods it may have served were bulldozed to make way for the highway on its east side. Running behind the blocks on its west side is train tracks, which are still in use. The area abuts Castleberry Hills, which is in the process of revitalization. On this end of Whitehall, revitalization is slow, but there are a couple of condo buildings, like Century Lofts (not pictured). The fencing (including barbed wire and razor wire) everywhere speaks to a crime problem. While photographing the area, a few people walked by, mostly homeless or indigent, but not all.
This is Whitehall Street looking north and south from McDaniel Street. Sanborn maps show this as a residential area until the 1930s, at which point most of the residences on the street had been replaced by warehouse buildings and manufacturing buildings. A trolley ran down the street until about the 1940s. Though the Sanborn maps did not show it I found pictures and references on-line to retail and even a hotel from the 30s and 40s. Though I did not take a picture of it (because people were sitting out front) there seems to an SRO hidden behind one of the buildings. I tried to show the street's proximity to the CBD in the other two pictures. I think the overall neglect of the area is evident in the photos. The buildings on the south side of the street are empty. Not pictured are mounds of garbage in the spaces between the buildings, most of which have asphalt on them and speak to ad hoc parking, long abandoned. This may have been a viable street until about the 1950s when the neighborhoods it may have served were bulldozed to make way for the highway on its east side. Running behind the blocks on its west side is train tracks, which are still in use. The area abuts Castleberry Hills, which is in the process of revitalization. On this end of Whitehall, revitalization is slow, but there are a couple of condo buildings, like Century Lofts (not pictured). The fencing (including barbed wire and razor wire) everywhere speaks to a crime problem. While photographing the area, a few people walked by, mostly homeless or indigent, but not all.
3 comments:
This Area abuts Castleberry Hill to the west, not "Castleberry Heights." Just northwest of here, but still along the eastern side of the tracks is the "Railroad District" which is being redeveloped slowly (and has stalled somewhat due to the housing crisis.
Thanks! I really should have known that, I have coffee there all the time!!!
Very interesting site--good choice! Perhaps rather than the two longer-distance shots a close-up of some detail that you discuss would have been great, too.
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