Stories that Remain

Preserving the Legacy of Linden Avenue…

Lori McNeill was in her doctor’s office in Redding when she made a fascinating, if unexpected, discovery that had nothing to do with her health. Overlooking what is often called “the canyon” or “the ditch” behind Mercy Medical Center, McNeill’s doctor shared information he had heard from older patients with intimate knowledge of Redding’s history. McNeill learned that a historic, close-knit Black neighborhood once existed in the open space where dilapidated foundations, overgrowth and homeless encampments remained.

McNeill, a data analytics consultant, began searching for information to confirm what the doctor had told her. Her efforts yielded virtually nothing. “That lack of visibility stuck with me,” says McNeill.

The discovery drove McNeill to spearhead a project aimed at uncovering a part of Redding’s history nearly buried by time, environmental issues, development and the reality of housing segregation.

“History and Housing: Preserving the History of a Black Community in Redding, California” was born of both curiosity and necessity. “That level of erasure, on top of what the community had already experienced, felt wrong. I made it my mission to preserve these stories and make them accessible,” says McNeill.

McNeill’s work operates under the Civic Hacker Network, a nonprofit she founded that uses data and technology for social impact. The project has brought together local organizations and community members, especially elders and families who have trusted McNeill with their stories.

“Their contributions are the heart of this work,” she says.

Much of what is known about the Linden Avenue Neighborhood has been passed down through oral histories shared by elders who remember it as the center of Redding’s Black community from around 1940 until 1978. That tradition of storytelling has helped preserve a history not always adequately represented in official records.

McNeill’s research focuses primarily on the neighborhood formerly located along Linden Avenue, mostly west of West Street and extending toward the old Benton Landfill, with portions stretching toward Railroad Avenue and what is now the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Center on Sheridan Street.

“The neighborhood developed somewhat organically, as Black families sought places to live amid formal and informal housing segregation in Redding,” says McNeill.

Homes, storefronts, hair salons, Black churches, an inn, laundromat and a café that doubled as a gathering place for music and dancing were part of what made the neighborhood vibrant. More important than its structures, however, was the sense of belonging among residents.

“The community was disrupted due to unaddressed environmental hazards and dismantled by eminent domain, when homes homes were cleared for a road project that was never even started,” says McNeill. “Former residents describe the loss not just of housing, but of a deeply connected, supportive community.”

While much of the original neighborhood is gone, some prominent structures remain, including the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Center and Memorial Park, Henry Memorial Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and some housing east of West Street. Four community matriarchs — Issac Lowe, Fran Brady, Mae Lois Turner and Georgia Fowler — are honored in a mural at the MLK Center.

Second Baptist Church also originated in the Linden Avenue Neighborhood and remains one of Redding’s oldest continuously operating congregations. The Coleman family owned and operated the Coleman Inn, while Beverley “Purley B” Harrison and Gracie Mae Liggons owned ABC Grocery Store near Linden and West streets. The women were said to be the last in the neighborhood to surrender to the threat of eminent domain.

Other residents left their mark throughout the community. Fran Brady documented local Black history through her “Hall of Fame” recognition events. Mildred Rhoades, grandmother of Redding Rancheria Chairman Jack Potter, became leader of the Shasta County Community Action Project in 1968, helping empower people living in poverty to participate directly in community decision-making.

Siblings Robert and Virginia Baldwin were among the neighborhood’s earliest residents when their family built one of the first houses in the canyon. Robert Baldwin, born in Redding in 1949, remembers church district meetings that drew Black congregants from San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, Oroville and elsewhere. He recalls shared meals, women dressed in white uniforms, tables covered in “crystal white” cloth and a profound sense of joy that drew others in.

“After the services, everybody would have dinner… what they call ‘dinner on the ground’ … and it wasn’t exclusive to the church,” says Baldwin. “They would hear the preaching and the singing and the shouting and rejoicing, and they would come by… It was a community, a close-knit community.”

At least three Black churches served the neighborhood during its peak, not including the historic African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church farther north on California Street, founded in 1894. “The congregations are still operating today,” says McNeill.

McNeill says there is a common misconception that Black people are a recent presence in Redding and that there is no Black history or community here. In reality, Black residents have been part of Shasta County since the 1800s.

Their legacies remain in the structures that survived, the memories of those who lived there and the people committed to preserving their stories.

“One important takeaway is the difference between what we read in official records and what people actually experienced,” says McNeill. “Newspapers and documents provide facts, but oral histories reveal lived realities. Hearing directly from residents adds depth, nuance, and humanity to the historical record.” •

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