Events and festivals (Rochester, Monroe: food, area, business)
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This is a real community reunion where many folks get an opportunity to reconnect and catch up with old friends from our gone but not forgotten hood that lives on in spirit. One of the few times I wish I was back home.
This is a real community reunion where many folks get an opportunity to reconnect and catch up with old friends from our gone but not forgotten hood that lives on in spirit. One of the few times I wish I was back home.
So, do you remember the Pythodd and the old businesses in the neighborhood pre Urban Renewal?
I was a young adolescent at the time of Clarissa’s urban renewal, but do have some early childhood memories of what it was like prior. I remember where the Pythodd was located, but never saw the inside of it. It was next to the Elks (Pennington/ Moye Post) Lodge, and Sheps Paradise was a just couple of doors down. I remember going to the Elks lodge with my grandmother after the Memorial Day parades downtown. I’ve also hung out at both the Elks and Sheps as they remained open through my adult years.
My father’s side of the family were members of the historic AME Zion church that was just around the corner on Favor St. where it stands alone today. They remained active members after the new building opened at the south end of the street at the junction of S. Plymouth Ave. in 1974. My mother’s side were members of Mt. Olivet Baptist on Adams St. near the corner of Clarissa (the new sanctuary is actually connected to the original). I attended both Zion and Mt. Olivet, the former as a child and the latter as an adult.
I’m probably a bit more familiar with the stretch of Clarissa that was closest to Bronson Ave. (now Samuel McCree Way). There was a very popular neighborhood bar on the corner called LaRue’s and it was one of my dad’s hangouts. My brother and I got our hair cut at his buddy’s barber shop 2 doors down and I believe Snuffy’s Chicken was another door or 2 down from the shop. There was Ike’s store across Bronson from LaRue’s that was great for penny candy and known for carrying a brand of pop that everyone liked called Pee Wee.
I remember a small home style take out kitchen across the street from LaRue’s, and Vallot’s Tavern was on the corner of Tremont St. I believe Vallot’s was also a small hotel well before my time. Homes and businesses were interspersed up and down the street. I recall a few other corner stores (one at the corner of Atkinson St), a couple of beauty parlors, an old rundown Esso gas station, and a couple of auto repair shops. There was definitely more but it’s just so difficult to remember as virtually all of it was demolished 50 years ago.
Another thing to be mindful of is that the neighborhood had long been a slum by this time with a lot of its residents living in some of the most deplorable conditions imaginable. Many families were consigned to and confined in severely overcrowded tenements and unbelievably chopped up single family houses. The gentrifiers had long been eyeing and coveting the area’s many historic homes. Many were not salvageable at the time and couldn’t stay out of the swift path of the wrecking balls of urban removal. Moreover, the community center of gravity had begun steadily shifting towards Jefferson Ave by the start of the 1960’s and further west through the 70’s and beyond.
I was a young adolescent at the time of Clarissa’s urban renewal, but do have some early childhood memories of what it was like prior. I remember where the Pythodd was located, but never saw the inside of it. It was next to the Elks (Pennington/ Moye Post) Lodge, and Sheps Paradise was a just couple of doors down. I remember going to the Elks lodge with my grandmother after the Memorial Day parades downtown. I’ve also hung out at both the Elks and Sheps as they remained open through my adult years.
My father’s side of the family were members of the historic AME Zion church that was just around the corner on Favor St. where it stands alone today. They remained active members after the new building opened at the south end of the street at the junction of S. Plymouth Ave. in 1974. My mother’s side were members of Mt. Olivet Baptist on Adams St. near the corner of Clarissa (the new sanctuary is actually connected to the original). I attended both Zion and Mt. Olivet, the former as a child and the latter as an adult.
I’m probably a bit more familiar with the stretch of Clarissa that was closest to Bronson Ave. (now Samuel McCree Way). There was a very popular neighborhood bar on the corner called LaRue’s and it was one of my dad’s hangouts. My brother and I got our hair cut at his buddy’s barber shop 2 doors down and I believe Snuffy’s Chicken was another door or 2 down from the shop. There was Ike’s store across Bronson from LaRue’s that was great for penny candy and known for carrying a brand of pop that everyone liked called Pee Wee.
I remember a small home style take out kitchen across the street from LaRue’s, and Vallot’s Tavern was on the corner of Tremont St. I believe Vallot’s was also a small hotel well before my time. Homes and businesses were interspersed up and down the street. I recall a few other corner stores (one at the corner of Atkinson St), a couple of beauty parlors, an old rundown Esso gas station, and a couple of auto repair shops. There was definitely more but it’s just so difficult to remember as virtually all of it was demolished 50 years ago.
Another thing to be mindful of is that the neighborhood had long been a slum by this time with a lot of its residents living in some of the most deplorable conditions imaginable. Many families were consigned to and confined in severely overcrowded tenements and unbelievably chopped up single family houses. The gentrifiers had long been eyeing and coveting the area’s many historic homes. Many were not salvageable at the time and couldn’t stay out of the swift path of the wrecking balls of urban removal. Moreover, the community center of gravity had begun steadily shifting towards Jefferson Ave by the start of the 1960’s and further west through the 70’s and beyond.
I came of age through it all.
Wow…Thank you for your response, as it is nice to hear from someone who was there before Urban Renewal. It sounds similar to the 15th Ward in Syracuse, a neighborhood my parents migrated to from MS and SC. While those neighborhoods has housing issues, it seems like the big thing that was lost was the cohesive business base where people could walk to a variety of businesses which could be in storefronts or in homes. Let alone a built in cultural base related to some of the businesses. So, I think that is what people reminisce about when those neighborhoods get mentioned.
Wow…Thank you for your response, as it is nice to hear from someone who was there before Urban Renewal. It sounds similar to the 15th Ward in Syracuse, a neighborhood my parents migrated to from MS and SC. While those neighborhoods has housing issues, it seems like the big thing that was lost was the cohesive business base where people could walk to a variety of businesses which could be in storefronts or in homes. Let alone a built in cultural base related to some of the businesses. So, I think that is what people reminisce about when those neighborhoods get mentioned.
Clarissa St did serve as the cultural and community hub for the original 3rd ward. Some argue that too much of its heart and soul was lost over time as the community expanded west and as several generations of residents have passed. But the foundation it provided is still somewhat present today. I’m told a beautiful mural commemorating Clarissa St. was just dedicated on a wall of the I490 Broad Street overpass at W. Main St. close to where Clarissa began, and I will check it out for sure during my next visit home.
You may be aware but in case you aren’t, the larger 7th ward Joseph Ave. area across town provided a similar community dynamic during the same period. Both areas received sizable influxes of blacks migrating up from the south, but much more so in the 7th ward. You would then see patterns of families moving from the 7th to the 3rd ward. Another key difference is that although Clarissa was smaller and had far fewer businesses than the south Joseph area (with Ward, Ormond, and Kelly streets effectively stretching that area from N. Clinton to Hudson), more at least % wise of Clarissa’s were black owned in comparison.
A lot of folks had relatives and close friends in both wards. There are annual gatherings and celebrations of 7th ward neighborhoods and community settlement centers such as Baden St., Hanover, and Ormond that are must attend events.
Clarissa St did serve as the cultural and community hub for the original 3rd ward. Some argue that too much of its heart and soul was lost over time as the community expanded west and as several generations of residents have passed. But the foundation it provided is still somewhat present today. I’m told a beautiful mural commemorating Clarissa St. was just dedicated on a wall of the I490 Broad Street overpass at W. Main St. close to where Clarissa began, and I will check it out for sure during my next visit home.
You may be aware but in case you aren’t, the larger 7th ward Joseph Ave. area across town provided a similar community dynamic during the same period. Both areas received sizable influxes of blacks migrating up from the south, but much more so in the 7th ward. You would then see patterns of families moving from the 7th to the 3rd ward. Another key difference is that although Clarissa was smaller and had far fewer businesses than the south Joseph area (with Ward, Ormond, and Kelly streets effectively stretching that area from N. Clinton to Hudson), more at least % wise of Clarissa’s were black owned in comparison.
A lot of folks had relatives and close friends in both wards. There are annual gatherings and celebrations of 7th ward neighborhoods and community settlement centers such as Baden St., Hanover, and Ormond that are must attend events.
Interesting about the business district in the 7th Ward and it makes sense given the 7th Ward/Upper Falls area being a big landing spot in the city.
This is great to hear this history from some one that was there, as some people may not believe that said communities had thriving business communities that were destroyed by policy decisions.
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