In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty passed the Housing and Urban Development Act, guaranteeing private financing to plan and develop new communities in areas that were targeted for redevelopment. Cities like Warren applied for, and were granted, funds to demolish buildings along commercial corridors and industrial sites with the goal of uplifting those areas through future development. Between 1965-1985, the City of Warren demolished over 300 buildings, primarily in the historically Black workers housing area of The Flats, as well as commercial buildings on Main Street, Franklin Street and South Street.
In 2020, the City of Warren and the Trumbull County Historical Society started reviewing the records compiled during Urban Renewal, including the images and maps that were taken during Urban Renewal to document the buildings that would be razed. In Warren, and in many cities across the country, the process of demolishing homes during Urban Renewal disproportionately affected minority communities. This was caused by the unwillingness of banks to fund loans for houses for minority applicants in other areas of town, or to not fund loans at all based on the color of the applicant’s skin.
