LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville-native Mary Hall vividly remembers the strong sense of community surrounding her childhood home in the California neighborhood.
“When I was growing up, everybody just knew everybody - this parent, that parent, they take turns watching kids while each one went to work out, went to the store, or whatever,” she said.
Hall recalls Black-owned grocery stores, beauty and barber shops, candy stores and more – all businesses that kept wealth in the neighborhood.
Those stores are now gone, and her former home at 1618 West Kentucky Street is a shell of what it once was. There’s now an empty lot, with a shed in its place.
"I just want to get it back like it was - better than what it was,” Hall said while looking at the empty lot.
She’s one big step closer to her dream; Hall finally received the land where her childhood home once stood.
Hall said her mother was forced to move out in 1989. She said inspectors said the home was uninhabitable due to a faulty heater; this was two years after Hall's father died.
“My mother was never the same after they took her house,” Hall said.
She said her mother could not afford the repairs and after nearly five years, the Jefferson County Landbank took control of the property and demolished the home a few years later.
“It's just hard when you have so much and then you have nothing,” Hall said.
She lost her parent's furniture, keepsakes and pictures. The losses make Hall cherish her grandmother's former home, in which she now lives, even more.
For years, Hall fought with the Landbank to get the land back, while taking care of her ailing mother and grandmother.
In 2021, she finally won.
Because of her tenacity, the Landbank adjusted its policy to allow family descendants to reacquire land after paying $250 and providing a detailed plan on how the land will be used.
The Landbank offered Hall's family land to her for $1, but gave it to her free of charge.
Tia Bowman, real estate program supervisor with the Landbank, said it's about equity.
She said she knows the effects redlining and urban renewal had on Black communities. The policies were directly connected in keeping Black homeownership low and depreciating their home values. This led to generations of systemic poverty.
Bowman said the change and the policies stemming from the 2021 Landbank Racial Equity Review are meant to reverse the course of historical wrongdoings.
“I want people to come back to granny's property or your aunt's property, Bowman said. “They worked hard on these properties. They worked hard to acquire these properties and they have a legacy.”
She said the Landbank will soon implement a new reunification program that will trace the history of private properties that heirs unknowingly own. Bowman said there are about 1,500 of these private properties in Louisville.
From March 6 through March 9, the Landbank will take appointments at the Louisville Community Center, where the heirs can come forward. These sessions will also educate people on the process to reclaim the land and the importance of life-planning documents.
“It results in wealth,” Bowman said. “It results in kids going to college. It results in starting your own business.”
The Landbank reports that in 2022 it acquired 166 properties - 144 through foreclosures ad 52 through donations.
It sold 57 properties - eight structures and 49 lots.
As of December 31, 2022, the landbank reports having 577 properties.
The fight continues
Though Hall got her family's land back, she's not done fighting for others to do the same. She started 'The Descendants of the California Neighborhood' and encourages others to trace their lineage.
“If they would just let us build back together, the California neighborhood can strive again,” she said.
As part of her efforts, Hall also petitioned for an investigation into property ownership in the California neighborhood and other historically Black neighborhoods. The petition is included in a draft ordinance calling for the protection of historically Black neighborhoods.
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