Black Bottom was a Detroit neighborhood bounded by Gratiot Avenue, Brush Street, Vernor Highway, and the Grand Trunk Railroads. It was considered the heart of black Detroit when it was demolished in the early 1960s and replaced with Lafayette Park during urban renewal. Earlier it had been a center for Eastern European Jewish settlement. Its main streets were Hastings and St. Antoine. Much of Hastings St. was demolished to make way for the construction of the I-75 freeway. Famous residents included Mayor Coleman A. Young.

Paradise Valley, another historically black neighborhood, was located to the north.

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~ransomcg/Life.htm

http://apps.detnews.com/apps/history/index.php?id=174  (broken, here is Archive.org)