County marks 1949 bulldozing of Ferry Street Village

The court order was issued July 16, and Lane County sent in the bulldozers Aug. 24. On the 75th anniversary of the court order, public comment to commissioners:

Andiel Brown (Eugene-Springfield NAACP): My name is Andiel Brown. I am the managing director for the Eugene-Springfield NAACP. I’m here to speak to you about the ‘Across The Bridge’ community which I’m sure all of you are very familiar with at this point.

[00:00:26] Today marks 75 years of a decree that was sent out from the county that the inhabitants of that community must vacate the premises for expansion, namely a new bridge, and the implementation of this decree was then set into motion in action Aug. 24, 75 years ago.

[00:00:53] I’m here to talk to you today about a press conference that we are having at the Mims House at 330 High St., Monday July 22 at 9 a .m. to bring more awareness and public awareness to the community and to the state at large and give you all an opportunity to come and make your presence known, and to speak to what has transpired there, and to speak to the county’s involvement in it, the county in which you all represent currently.

[00:01:37] Now, even though we weren’t—none of us were present at the time, we all have to really take account to the impact that it had to the families who were there at the time, and the offspring who are currently living, many of them, some of the elders who were living at the time and their children, their grandchildren.

[00:02:06] My hope is that everyone here would be able to make their presence known at this press conference and give a statement. We have commitment from many other elected officials locally and statewide who will be there and who will, if they cannot be there, who will submit a written statement that will be read publicly. And I really hope to see you all there.

[00:02:36] Commissioner Laurie Trieger: Thank you so much for coming. I have some prepared remarks noting the anniversary because it is an important date and our board meeting falls exactly on the date and so I do want to read those brief remarks just to note this the history but very much appreciate it and I’m grateful that a member of the Black community would come and present that to us that is as and more important than anything any one of us up here could put out to the public. So thank you for taking the time to come and note that.

[00:03:07] As Mr. Brown stated, 75 years ago, on July 16, 1949, Lane County obtained a court order demanding specific areas in the neighborhood, currently known as ‘Across The Bridge,’ to be vacated within 10 days of that notice.

[00:03:23] The court order required the razing of a small number of homes in an area delineated by certain riverfront streets to make way for construction of a new Ferry Street bridge. These were the homes of Black families who had created a strong supportive community there.

[00:03:38] On August 24, 1949, a bulldozer entered the neighborhood, the Ferry Street Village, and razed all of the homes in the area, as well as the neighborhood church.

[00:03:49] Although many of the dozens of residents were prepared, many escaped with only the possessions they were able to rescue in a few minutes. Most of the residents were displaced to three new sites in the boundaries of the city of Eugene where there was often no water, electricity or sanitary services.

[00:04:10] I’m pleased that you brought to the board’s attention the event on (July) 22. I had already been aware of that and planned to attend and community partners have been working, including alongside Lane County and city of Eugene staff, to organize a gathering later this year in addition to bring community together to mark this event and to specifically honor the living descendants of these displaced families.

[00:04:35] So again, thank you so much for taking time to come to us and more to come on that.

[00:04:41] John Q: Lane County acknowledges that 75 years ago this summer, it destroyed a community, to clear the way for our current Ferry Street bridge.