June 17, 2006
Fairbanks Flats
In the early 1900's - during and after WWI - these apartments were built for African American laborers migrating from the south to work in factories in the north. Due to WWI, there was a scarcity of labor in northern industrial towns like Beloit.
These were originally called "Edgewater Flats" but later became known as "Fairbanks Flats" because people living in them worked at the Fairbanks plant on the other side of the Rock River.
IIRC, this is now a historic site, commemorating Beloit's sorry history of "defacto segregation."
This was 60 years before Henry Avenue bridge existed, far from Beloit's city-center, and relatively isolated from Beloit's then-existing neighborhoods. Today, this is prime river front property and the question pf the day is, "What should we do with these vacant uninhabitable buildings?"
Before sewage treatment and abundant leisure time, river fronts like Beloit's were an eyesore of dirty factories (water/steam power!) and foundries, a stinking swampy mess of human and industrial waste.
My how times change.
Stitched from 4 frames using Autostitch.
These were originally called "Edgewater Flats" but later became known as "Fairbanks Flats" because people living in them worked at the Fairbanks plant on the other side of the Rock River.
IIRC, this is now a historic site, commemorating Beloit's sorry history of "defacto segregation."
This was 60 years before Henry Avenue bridge existed, far from Beloit's city-center, and relatively isolated from Beloit's then-existing neighborhoods. Today, this is prime river front property and the question pf the day is, "What should we do with these vacant uninhabitable buildings?"
Before sewage treatment and abundant leisure time, river fronts like Beloit's were an eyesore of dirty factories (water/steam power!) and foundries, a stinking swampy mess of human and industrial waste.
My how times change.
Stitched from 4 frames using Autostitch.
