CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – Hundreds of black families were forced out of their homes, their businesses and more to make room for the interstate system and “urban renewal projects” in Charleston during the 1950s and 1960s. Though this happened decades ago, those memories remain strong for some current Charleston residents who lived through what’s known as “the Triangle District.”
“I grew up in Charleston, West Virginia. I’m originally from Kanawha City, was born and raised there,” Charleston resident Shirley Lyles said.
Now in her 80s, Lyles said she remembers what Charleston used to be when she was a little girl and her parents owned a downtown restaurant. The Triangle District, from the Elk River to Slack Street to Washington Street, was heavily populated with immigrant and black families.
“I remember the Triangle District very well. I had aunts who lived down in that area. I just remember it being a happy place. Everybody knew everybody,” Lyles said.
That is until the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System came to Charleston in the mid-1950s. Homes, businesses and churches were demolished to make way for the interstate and for various projects in the city, such as the construction of the Town Center.
“It affected everyone. You knew someone or you were kin to them,” Lyles said.
The Triangle District experience was the main focus of Wednesday’s West Virginia State University Black History luncheon at the new downtown center. On March 9 and 10, the WVSU center will also host the “Sankofa African American Museum on Wheels.”
Folks at the event said it’s important to remember the impact of what happened to Black families.
“The Triangle District was dismantled really under the guise of urban renewal, but what it really did was to destroy a strong African American community, people’s sense of wellbeing,” event speaker and former Charleston attorney Kitty Dooley said. “Their churches, their businesses, their homes were really taken away from them.”
Dooley continued, “The history of what the Triangle District, what happened in the Triangle District here in Charleston, gives us important information about not just the history of Charleston but the history of the United States.”
Though she did not personally witness the demolition of the Triangle District, Dooley said it’s important to continue sharing the history of what truly happened to hundreds of black business owners, home owners and community members.
“History is important. We’re living in a time where people either, one, want to deny history, or two, don’t want it to be taught to individuals who are in school and express it under the guise of diversity, equity and inclusion, though it has nothing to do with that. If we don’t understand our history, then we are doomed to repeat it,” Dooley said.
She continued, “So, if we don’t understand what happened and the destroying of this community and how people fought, then we’ll repeat that history. We’re on the precipice of things like that happening even today.”
Lyles, having personally watched friends and family members be forced from their homes, said it matters to keep having these discussions and educating people on what people fought for just decades ago.
“People don’t know and people that do know want to forget. This is something that you don’t forget. It affected people’s lives. I can’t imagine being a young person, coming home and not knowing where you were going to go with your family. They didn’t get that much money to move to South Hills. They didn’t get that much money to move to Edgewood. They didn’t get that much money to move to South Charleston,” Lyles said.
Lyles’ family restaurant was not affected by the demolition of the Triangle District, though witnessing the struggle of others affected her.
“It was sad. A lot of the things you were used to was changing, not for the better. That’s the worst thing. I guess I look at it now and I see that here this big to do, to put that interstate and take and put a mall. Then I look at the mall, look what you’ve got: nothing,” Lyles said. “We don’t even have a nice place to go shopping. You have to get in your car and go to Huntington if you want to shop in a mall.”
She continued, “Someone made a comment that ‘well those houses probably needed to be torn down. That area probably needed to be cleaned up.’ No, it wasn’t that. It was nice houses. Very nice houses.”
