Its name was the Gas Plant, for the two giant fuel tanks that towered over the center of the neighborhood. When the bulldozers came in the early 1980s, clearing the way for what was then just a big gamble, the city erased one of its oldest African-American neighborhoods. What it couldn't erase were the memories. Even today, the name Gas Plant brings a sigh of nostalgia to those who remember it. Middle-aged adults remember their childhoods.
Old folks recall the families they raised.
Preachers, the ones they baptized, married and buried. Fifteen years later, many of those still alive say they are better off now. Homeowners moved to greener neighborhoods. Three displaced churches have prospered. Not everyone wanted to leave, though.