Ferguson's yesterdays offer clues to the troubled city of today

[Sherman A1]

The photo is an iconic image of post-World War II America: A bustling downtown main street lined with sturdy Chevys, Fords and Chryslers. Pedestrians strolling past a hodgepodge of storefronts with flashy light-up signs: Barbays Self-Service Market, King Drugs, Florsheim shoes, Coca Cola.

This was Ferguson, Mo., in the late 1950s, just past the midpoint of its 120-year history.

It was a city on the upswing. The population doubled between 1950 and 1960 — to just over 22,000, and the city was also expanding geographically. In 1964, annexation would land the primarily residential community an industrial plum: The Emerson Electric plant that was built outside the city limits in 1940.

But by the end of the 1960s, city leaders were eyeing the future with wariness.

http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/fergusons-yesterdays-offer-clues-troubled-city-today

It is a long article, but offers an insight into some of the history of Ferguson and has some interesting photos.

[packman]

1. My hometown experience the same

grew from a bit over 12,000 to close to 20,000 in the years following WWII. Steel mills booming, industry roaring. On Friday nights and Saturdays the streets were crowded and traffic backed up from one end of town to the other. We had a butcher shop, an ice cream parlor, a green grocer, clothing stores, jewelry stores, hardware stores and just about anything you could want you could find in the downtown stores. Then in the late 50's it was as if someone pulled a plug somewhere. By the mid 60's the shops closed up, the mills shut down and people just left the carcass of the town behind. Today the population is barely 7,500 and consists of the elderly or those who returned to find a place to live with their elderly parents after not succeeding when they left to try to get a new life. Despair and a weariness is palpable with just a scattering of businesses left. With no tax base left, services are almost nonexistent and the town had to hold a drive to raise money to pay for the electricity to light up the Christmas decorations this past year and ask for volunteers to hang them. Sad.