neighborhood streets cut off by the sunken highway for decades. Geography Historically, the primary business district was in an area bounded by Vernor, John R., Madison, and Hastings, with Gratiot Avenue running through the district as a spoke on the "hub-and-spoke" road layout of Detroit. The business district included hotels, restaurants, music stores, bowling alleys, shops, policy offices, and grocery stores. There were 17 nightclubs in the business district. The sunken I-375 highway passes directly over where Hastings Ave. once was. Notable people Fard Muhammad Elijah Muhammad Della Reese Joe Louis Sugar Ray Robinson Robert Hayden Stephen M. Ross Mary Wells Coleman Young See also History of African Americans in Detroit References Bibliography Sugrue, Thomas J (2005). The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit. United States: Princeton University Press External links Lafayette Park/Mies van der Rohe Historic District Paradise Valley Marker Walter P. Reuther Library Article on the history of Black Bottom When Detroit paved over paradise: The story of I-375 1930s and 1940s photographs of children in Black Bottom and Paradise Valley at the Walter P. Reuther Library The Destruction of Detroit's Black Bottom, by Howard Husock in Reason Magazine (Mar 2022) Black Bottom Street View African-American history in Detroit Ethnic enclaves in Michigan Music of Detroit History of racism in Michigan