Orange Mound, a neighborhood in southeast Memphis, Tennessee, was the first neighborhood in America to be built by and for African Americans. Built on the grounds of the former Deaderick plantation, the Orange Mound subdivision was developed for African Americans in the 1890s to provide affordable land and residences for the less wealthy. Drugs and crime infected the neighborhood in the 1980s and 1990s. In the first decade of the 21st century, revitalization efforts were started and show positive effects. Geography Orange Mound is bounded by Semmes St. to the east, (bordering University Districts) and by Lamar and Kimball Avenues to the south. The Southern Avenue & IC Railroad tracks that cross in front of the Mid-South Coliseum form the northern & western borders while separating it from the Belt Line and Midtown. The streets outlining the plantation that originally existed on that ground were Goodwyn St on the east, Park Ave on the south and Airways at the southwest. Demographics The neighborhood has a population of approximately 14,400 of which 95 percent are of African-American heritage. History Deaderick plantation - 1800s Orange Mound stands on the site of the former John Deaderick plantation. Between 1825 and 1830, Deaderick (whose family donated the land in Nashville on which the Tennessee State Capitol was built) purchased 5,000 acres (20 km²) of land (from Airways to Semmes) and built a stately house there (at what is now the east side of Airways, between Carnes and Spottswood). In 1890, a developer named Elzey Eugene Meachem purchased land from the Deaderick family and began developing a subdivision for African-Americans, selling lots for less than $100. In the 1890s, a typical Orange Mound house was a small, narrow "shotgun"-style house. A tradition says the name comes from mock-orange trees or shrubs on the grounds of the old homeplace. Annexation In 1919, The City of Memphis annexed the community. Vibrant black community - 1970s In the 1970s, Orange Mound was billed as "the largest concentration of blacks in the United States except for Harlem in New York City." The neighborhood provided a refuge for black people moving to the city for the first time from rural areas. Although the streets of the early Orange Mound were unpaved, it was a vibrant community in which a mix of residences, businesses, churches, and cultural centers flourished. During the era of desegregation, Orange Mound entered a period of decline