Eugene’s Black Neighborhoods

Use the arrows on the maps below to see the locations of Black neighborhoods through the early and mid-20th century.

After the Ferry Street Settlement was demolished to make way for the Ferry Street Bridge in 1949, the Black families living there struggled to find new homes. Unwelcome in white neighborhoods, they were forced to West 11th Avenue, Glenwood, and the base of Skinner Butte.

What do you remember? What did we forget? Help us tell the story of Eugene’s civil rights era. Email us at mnch@uoregon.edu to share your memories and reflections.

My family moved to Eugene/Springfield in 1978 from San Francisco when I was 14. I found it very strange that there was not a single person of color in my school, neighborhood, shopping mall, doctor’s office…no where. Everywhere I went, only white people. Coming from a very diverse culture in the SFO Bay Area to this very white state was unnerving.