North Square
North Square, at the intersection of North Main and Elm Streets, was the commercial center of the district, serving affluent families in the nearby neighborhoods as well as families of modest means nearby. Stores, clubs, restaurants, bakeries, meat markets, car dealers, candy manufacturers, luncheonettes, fruit stands, barbershops, saloons and theaters filled the streets with activity. Legendary jazz clubs, like Phil Becker’s, attracted people from throughout the city and beyond to the neighborhood’s nightlife.
"The Sugar Bowl used to be a kind of a place where you could go and eat and play the jukebox, order ice cream... it was a little... convenience store, kind of a little restaurant combined."
~ Vanessa Bennett Johnson
"There was the Carroll Theater, the Alhambra Theater... restaurants.... We didn't have to go downtown for anything. Anything we wanted... there was a bakery, there was a fish market, there was a chicken market... you name it. We had it all."
~ Nathaniel Jones
Above the shops, many of the city’s newest residents, in each decade, lived in six-family “blocks”. The area was alive with close circles of family and neighbors, networks reinforced by the close proximity of work and recreation, schools and churches.
"It was a very close-knit neighborhood, you were very close to your neighbors; they watched out for each other's children.... [We played] on the sidewalk, right out in front of the house.... I had two girlfriends that also came out and played.... I loved it."
~ Audrey Harrell
Residents over four decades recalled the diversity of the neighborhood as a special strength. For generations of worshipers, the North Square was the home of their church: Polish Catholic St. Stanislaus, Russian Orthodox St. Mary's, the Swedish Lutheran church and the Jewish synagogue and Hebrew School were located within blocks of the Square.
"I was taught, being Baptist, the minute you get in a town, the first thing you do is join the church."
~ Addie Booker
"The big congregation was the Orthodox, so everything centered around the Orthodox synagogue and the Hebrew Institute, which was immediately next door.... When I went to Talmud Torah... the basement was where all these Jewish boys played basketball, and upstairs was the Hebrew School."
~ Zelig Matzkin
