Cuyler-Brownsville Historic District is one of Savannah’s oldest black neighborhoods. To this day it remains a predominantly African American district.
The Cuyler-Brownsville Historic District is bounded by Ogeechee Road and Kollock Street, West Anderson Street, Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard and West Victory Drive. The historic neighborhood is situated immediately to the southeast of Laurel Grove Cemetery, just to the south and west of Forsyth Park and Savannah’s National Landmark Historic District.
Cuyler-Brownsville, in fact comprising two old districts – the Cuyler School District to its north and the Brownsville district to its south – was settled from the last decades of the nineteenth century. The Cuyler-Brownsville neighborhoods were inhabited by some of Savannah’s wealthiest black families until well into the twentieth century.
This part of the city, along with neighboring areas such as the blocks around Cann Park, were actively promoted as ideal residence locations for African Americans aspiring to the suburban lifestyle that became increasingly popular from the late nineteenth century onwards.
By the mid century, however, as restrictions previously imposed by whites upon where Savannah’s black residents could live began to be lifted, many of Cuyler-Brownsville’s wealthier inhabitants began to move out of the old district into previously segregated parts of the city.
Unfortunately, this movement of many old residents precipitated the decline of the area, hit too by the economic problems that have beset Savannah during much of the twentieth century. Crime and drug problems rose and many began to perceive this historic neighborhood as unsafe.
Though some parts of the neighborhood still struggle with crime and other social problems, many people, some of whom have lived in Cuyler-Brownsville for decades, are actively working towards the improvement of their neighborhood. In the past two decades, there has been significant investment into the area, particularly the creation of affordable housing, which allows Savannah citizens to remain in the city’s historic districts regardless of their wealth.
The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. Recent redevelopment efforts have restored several of Cuyler-Brownsville’s historic buildings, including the old Charity Hospital and Florance Street School, now converted into residential apartments.
Cuyler-Brownsville’s Urban Redevelopment Plan aims to promote the preservation and restoration of the neighborhood’s historic homes and buildings in keeping with its traditional character.
References
Henry Moore and Christopher Morrill, ‘The Savannah Story: the road to equity and sustainable community development,’ in Economic development in American cities: the pursuit of an equality agenda, edited by Michael I. J. Bennett and Robert P. Giloth (Albany: State University of New York, 2007), pp189-212.