The area became segregated in the 1890's, and by 1915 it was one of the most progressive, growing business streets in the capitol city. Black businessmen owned their shops on and off Farish Street, and black craftsmen constructed many of the buildings in the area.
According to "Farish Street District", a pamphlet by A. Harrison, the Jackson Business Directory for 1913-14 "(Colored)", listed eleven black attorneys, four physicians, three dentists, two jewelers, two loan companies and a bank, as well as two hospitals for blacks and a large number of retail and service businesses.
The first two decades of the 20th century heralded a period of significant land and population increase, and of political, cultural and social change for Jackson, during which the city began to shed certain small town attitudes and to assume a more urban and cosmopolitan point of view, as chronicled by "City of Jackson, A Special Kind of Place" by Brinson, Carroll, Jackson.
As a growing city of the deep south with a black population of 40%, Jackson maintained the strongly felt policy of racial apartheid which had existed since the defeat of slavery and the reconstruction events which were so bitter for the white community.
There developed over these hundred years, two separate cultures, existing side by side and with some interactivity, primarily economic, but with little social, religious or other integrated activity. This doctrine of separateness was firmly implanted in the cultures of both blacks and whites in the south until the "Brown vs. Board of Education (Topeka)" on May 17, 1954, after which some changes began to occur, especially in education. The essential character of the parallel cultures remain strongly imbedded throughout the south, however.
The black business and professional community served the black population virtually exclusively and grew and prospered in the Farish Street area of downtown Jackson. One of the reasons for this era of growth and prosperity was the emergence of leadership by blacks over the decades serving as community role models for subsequent generations.
Among these early role models were such men as Richard Beadle, the renown photographer whose studio was located at 119-1/2 North Farish Street for 55 years beginning in 1890, and brothers Augustus Redmond, a pharmacist, and S. D. Redmond, M.D., a physician and lawyer. The brothers acquired considerable property and gained national political attention. The Redmond Pharmacy served the community for some 40 years from 1890 to the early 1930's.
Dr. S. D. Redmond, who owned considerable property on Farish Street in addition to his home and practice, was elected Chairman of the Mississippi State Republican Executive Committee in 1920, which he thereafter held for 24 years. He was elected a delegate to the Republican National Convention a dozen times, and personally helped to nominate ten Republican candidates for President and Vice President. He was an organizer and first President of the Mississippi Medical and Surgical Association, the state's black medical society which is still active today.
Several churches, restaurants, and retail outlets also drew people to the area from all over the city and county. The Ritz Theater on Farish Street was one of only two black-owned theaters in the country, and both were built and owned by Dr. A. H. McCoy in Jackson.
In 1902-03, Jackson State University, then called Jackson College, operated from the Benevolent Hall at the corner of Farish and Griffith Streets, moving to a 50-acre tract at its present location several blocks west in 1903.
The Jackson Negro Chamber of Commerce was formed in 1930 when businessmen organized to plan a relief program to aid families hurt by the depression. Dr. C. L. Barnes, a Farish Street dentist became the first President, serving for 10 years. Dr. Barnes' home still stands at the north end of Farish Street.
During the 1960's and 70's, the Farish Street area experienced a period of decay as many of the older leaders passed away and younger men began to spread their businesses to other areas of the city. As in many cities, people were moving away from the "downtown" and toward less congested, more residential neighborhoods.
However, in the late 1970's, the Farish Street area along with the rest of downtown Jackson began to experience a resurgence of activity due in part to civic efforts to renew the traditional and historical identity of the city. The neighborhood, which is also the oldest black business district in the United States, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, and residents began to develop interest in planning for future development.
Efforts are currently underway to revive the Farish Street area into a tourist attraction with retail shops, blues and jazz bars, museums, theaters and more.
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