22½ Main Street

22½ Main Street. The Town of Westport, Connecticut. , On this site stood an African-American neighborhood hidden behind Main Street and Elm Street. Buildings here were given "½" numbers as street addresses. The residents made up the majority of Westport's African-American population, many of whom were descended from people enslaved by the 17th and 18th century European settlers. After the Great Migration that began in the 1920s, additional African Americans settled in Westport and often worked in the service industry as maids, cooks, gardeners, drivers and groomsmen to affluent Westporters. Many of the area's residents lived in the building at 22½ Main Street (now 28 Main Street), which served as the neighborhood center. According to census and other documentation including oral histories taken by the Westport Museum for History and Culture, there was a grocer, a barbershop, the Antioch Baptist Church, and other community institutions., In December 1949, members of the community petitioned the town's governing council , the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) , to be considered for the town's new affordable housing but they were rebuffed. In January, a local newspaper predicted "great loss of life" should a fire threaten the "slum" housing. Eight days later, a fire broke out in the section of 22½ Main Street that was used for the church. All residents escaped, thanks to an alarm raised by resident Robert Hall who attempted to douse flames himself. Most of the structure and nearly all of the residents' possessions were destroyed. Arson was suspected, but no investigation ensued. Some families stayed in the unburned portion of the building for several months trying to find alternative housing in town. In the end, however, nearly all who lived in this community moved away from Westport.