Village <strong>of</strong> Brooklyn, IllinoisCommunity and Economic Development AssessmentBy Meg GlynnAppendices includes information regarding proposed community and economicdevelopment projects introduced in The Role <strong>of</strong> the <strong>University</strong> section <strong>of</strong> this document.While this document does not fully explain the formation and purpose <strong>of</strong> the BrooklynRevitalization Committee or exhaust all possible community and economic developmentstrategies, it provides a background on which ESLARP and Urban Planning classes at the<strong>University</strong> may build.Spring 2007<strong>Page</strong> 8 <strong>of</strong> 27
I. Institutional Memory: the History <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Project</strong>Village <strong>of</strong> Brooklyn, IllinoisCommunity and Economic Development AssessmentBy Meg GlynnIn this section, I introduce the Village <strong>of</strong> Brooklyn, Illinois and explain how I beganmeeting with the Brooklyn Revitalization Committee at the Southwestern IllinoisDevelopment Authority (SWIDA) headquarters in Collinsville, Illinois. To betterunderstand how the <strong>University</strong> could work with the Revitalization Committee toencourage Brooklyn’s participation in economic development processes, I researched the<strong>University</strong>’s previous relationships with Brooklyn, identified the public and privateentities comprising the Revitalization Committee and noted on which Brooklyn projectsthese entities worked. Participants <strong>of</strong> the Brooklyn Revitalization Committee did notclearly indicate how they became involved with the group nor did they share all <strong>of</strong> theBrooklyn projects on which they were working. This section summarizes the informationobtained about the Revitalization Committee and their plans based on meetingobservations and telephone conversations held with Committee participants.Introduction to BrooklynThe Village <strong>of</strong> Brooklyn is located on Route 3 in <strong>St</strong>. Clair County, Illinois. The village isbounded by Venice, in Madison County to the north, the former National City to the east,the City <strong>of</strong> <strong>East</strong> <strong>St</strong>. <strong>Louis</strong> to the south and the Mississippi River to the west. Brooklyn islocated directly across the river from <strong>St</strong>. <strong>Louis</strong>, Missouri. (Appendix A: Location Map)<strong>St</strong>reets run southeast to northwest and southwest to northeast in a gridiron plan laidparallel and perpendicular to the river. Village blocks are bordered by railroad tracks tothe east, south and west because railroad tracks converge south <strong>of</strong> Brooklyn. One leveeborders the railroad tracks located west <strong>of</strong> Route 3 and another follows the MississippiRiver shoreline. (Appendix A: <strong>St</strong>. Clair County Maps)Brooklyn, also called Lovejoy in reference to abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy, was home to alarge freedman village and contained stops on the Underground Railroad. 1 Brooklynbecame one <strong>of</strong> the first incorporated Black towns in the nation in 1873. Residents wereemployed by railroads and industries in <strong>East</strong> <strong>St</strong>. <strong>Louis</strong> and the surrounding area as well asby business in town. In 1905, Brooklyn’s building stock included several churches, atwo-story brick schoolhouse, and a grocery store. In 1955, a dance hall, movie theater,restaurants, high school and community center stood in Brooklyn. 2 (Appendix A:Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps)Today, Brooklyn’s population <strong>of</strong> approximately 600 is nearly nine-nine percent AfricanAmerican. Economically, Brooklyn has very little industry and lacks a strong businessand housing market; the village has experienced increased unemployment and decreased1 For information regarding early history <strong>of</strong> Brooklyn, Illinois, please see: Cha-Jua, Sundiata Keita. 2000.America’s First Black Town: Brooklyn, Illinois 1830-1915. <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Illinois Press: Urbana. Foradditional information about Brooklyn, please see: Schoen, Elin. 1979. Tales <strong>of</strong> an All-Night Town.Harcourt Brace Jovanovich: New York.2 Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. 1905 and 1950. Available online and in the Maps and Geography Library atthe <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Illinois Urbana-Champaign.Spring 2007<strong>Page</strong> 9 <strong>of</strong> 27
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