A Neighborhood Erased

A Neighborhood Erased. . By the 1950s many residents of the Belmar Triangle were African Americans. At that time, city leaders decided to modernize South Santa Monica through urban renewal projects. They chose to replace neighborhoods whose residents were mostly lower income African Americans, other people of color, and Whites. Targeted neighborhoods in the city's redevelopment plan were torn down in their entirety, including the Belmar Triangle. , Under the laws of eminent domain, the city forced Belmar residents to leave their homes and close their businesses in order to build a new civic auditorium and courthouse grounds. To further justify their actions, officials took pictures of some of Belmar's old and worn buildings and claimed they were no longer safe. Then they burned the neighborhood down. Before the decade ended, the Belmar Triangle had completely disappeared. , (Sidebar) , A House to Live In , Donald and Vernon Brunson pose at their Belmar-adjacent home around 1930. Other homes in the area were long wooden buildings called shotgun houses. Inexpensively built, they were easy to relocate … and even easier to burn. , Burning Down Homes , City planners watch as a shotgun home burns to the ground in July 1953. They sent photographs like this to the local newspapers to build support for tearing down the Belmar Triangle. , Santa Monica Civic Auditorium Guests arrive at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium for the 1961 Academy Awards. Since it opened in 1958, the auditorium at 1855 Main Street has been home to numerous events, including one with Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1964. , Photo captions/credits: , . Top and bottom left: Santa Monica Public Library Image Archives , . Top right: Santa Monica History Museum Collection