The Black business district of Little Rock known as West Ninth Street thrived after World War II but was erased during federal Urban Renewal efforts in the 1950s and ’60s.
The history of Ninth Street will always live. My siblings and I exist because we are historical markers of Ninth Street. Others currently alive in the city of Little Rock are here because of their parents’ interactions along Ninth Street. The area of Ninth Street between Broadway and Chester streets is a testimony to the lives of so many residents in Arkansas and nationwide today.
Historical city directories show many of the businesses and homes with the Ninth Street address. In the early 1960s, the 600 block of Ninth Street had the Century Building, where many professionals had offices. Physicians in the building included Oba B. White and George W. S. Ish. Lawyers in the building included Edward Trimble, Christopher C. Mercer Jr., Harold B. Anderson, and Delector Tilller. The offices of the Southern Mediator Journal publication were in the building. The Arkansas Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) held space in the building. The West Ninth Cab Company was at 613 W. 9th St., and Angel’s Hot Dog Stand occupied 614 W. 9th St.
The Raines Building was also in the 6oo block of West Ninth. The husband-and-wife dental team of Garman P. Freeman and Evangeline Upshur held office space in the building. Dr. William H. Townsend, an optometrist who later became an Arkansas legislator, was in the building, as were physicians John M. Robinson and Morris Jackson.
I. W. Muldrew and A. L. Shepherd used office space in the building. The 700 block of West Ninth was home to the Children’s Drug Store, Crenchaw Tailoring, Block’s Pawn Shop, the Tucker Hotel, the Gem Theater, Red’s Pool Hall, Little Rock Barber College, and Tyler Barber College. Maceo A. Binns, a local photographer who did many of the school photos for the Black community, was located at 808 W. 9th St. The 800 block also had Miller Funeral Home, United Friends Mortuary, Braswell Grocery, and Braswell Cafeteria…