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| Story of cities #41: Soul City's failed bid to build a black-run suburbia for America | Story of cities #41: Soul City's failed bid to build a black-run suburbia for America |
| (4 months later) | |
| At first glance, this North Carolina town would have looked much like the thousands of others that were built across America’s vast countryside in the decades following the second world war. It would have consisted of single family homes on curvilinear streets within walking distance of manmade lakes, shopping centres and industry. In short, a 1970s vision of suburbia. | At first glance, this North Carolina town would have looked much like the thousands of others that were built across America’s vast countryside in the decades following the second world war. It would have consisted of single family homes on curvilinear streets within walking distance of manmade lakes, shopping centres and industry. In short, a 1970s vision of suburbia. |
| One key factor would have made this town different, however. The self-contained, racially integrated community would be planned, developed and managed by black people. Those black foundations would be celebrated in the town’s name: Soul City. | One key factor would have made this town different, however. The self-contained, racially integrated community would be planned, developed and managed by black people. Those black foundations would be celebrated in the town’s name: Soul City. |
| The idea was dreamed up by Floyd McKissick: attorney, civil rights activist and force of nature. In January 1969, amid the waning days of US president Lyndon B Johnson’s administration, McKissick strolled into a Washington DC news conference with secretary of agriculture Orville Freeman and announced plans to build Soul City on 5,000 acres of rural land in impoverished Warren County, just over an hour’s drive from Raleigh, North Carolina. | The idea was dreamed up by Floyd McKissick: attorney, civil rights activist and force of nature. In January 1969, amid the waning days of US president Lyndon B Johnson’s administration, McKissick strolled into a Washington DC news conference with secretary of agriculture Orville Freeman and announced plans to build Soul City on 5,000 acres of rural land in impoverished Warren County, just over an hour’s drive from Raleigh, North Carolina. |
| That was the easy part. While Johnson supported the effort and pledged government help, McKissick’s real task began five days later when a new president was sworn in: the politically conservative Richard Nixon. | That was the easy part. While Johnson supported the effort and pledged government help, McKissick’s real task began five days later when a new president was sworn in: the politically conservative Richard Nixon. |
| Having secured the US’s southern states, including North Carolina, in the 1968 presidential election using a decidedly anti-black campaign tactic called the “southern strategy”, the prospect of Nixon backing $14m-worth (£9.7m) of federal loan guarantees to support the construction of this new town – built and managed by black people and called, of all things, Soul City – looked remote. Yet that’s exactly what happened. | Having secured the US’s southern states, including North Carolina, in the 1968 presidential election using a decidedly anti-black campaign tactic called the “southern strategy”, the prospect of Nixon backing $14m-worth (£9.7m) of federal loan guarantees to support the construction of this new town – built and managed by black people and called, of all things, Soul City – looked remote. Yet that’s exactly what happened. |
| Construction on this “southern utopia” began within a few years. And for a while at least, it looked as if McKissick – an African American who had marched with Martin Luther King in the violent south and successfully sued for admission to the University of North Carolina School of Law – had prevailed again. | Construction on this “southern utopia” began within a few years. And for a while at least, it looked as if McKissick – an African American who had marched with Martin Luther King in the violent south and successfully sued for admission to the University of North Carolina School of Law – had prevailed again. |
| “The black man has been searching for identity and destiny in the cities,” McKissick said in that 1969 news conference. “He should be able to find it in the plains of Warren County.” | “The black man has been searching for identity and destiny in the cities,” McKissick said in that 1969 news conference. “He should be able to find it in the plains of Warren County.” |
| The rise of soul | The rise of soul |
| Soul City came at time when black culture was taking a larger role in the American mainstream. In 1968, a show called Soul! – conceived as a black version of the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson – had premiered on New York public television. There were black sitcoms, and soul music began to cross over to the pop charts with frequency. The nationally syndicated dance show Soul Train premiered in 1971. | Soul City came at time when black culture was taking a larger role in the American mainstream. In 1968, a show called Soul! – conceived as a black version of the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson – had premiered on New York public television. There were black sitcoms, and soul music began to cross over to the pop charts with frequency. The nationally syndicated dance show Soul Train premiered in 1971. |
| Major cities such as Los Angeles and Atlanta elected black mayors for the first time. Also, in 1971, hair care company Chicago’s Johnson Products became the first minority-owned firm to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Given the context, a black city did not seem out of the realm. | Major cities such as Los Angeles and Atlanta elected black mayors for the first time. Also, in 1971, hair care company Chicago’s Johnson Products became the first minority-owned firm to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Given the context, a black city did not seem out of the realm. |
| McKissick foresaw a town that would grow to 44,000 residents by 2004. There would be homes and industry surrounded by trees, hills and lakes. Above all, there would be no prejudice, poverty or slums, according to a Soul City brochure. For a black person in the segregated urban ghettos of the north, the message was clear: “Come back home.” | McKissick foresaw a town that would grow to 44,000 residents by 2004. There would be homes and industry surrounded by trees, hills and lakes. Above all, there would be no prejudice, poverty or slums, according to a Soul City brochure. For a black person in the segregated urban ghettos of the north, the message was clear: “Come back home.” |
| Floyd McKissick Jr, son of the Soul City founder and formerly the development’s planning chief, says that company officials visited and made direct appeals to black families in the north – many of whom had left the south just a generation earlier. | Floyd McKissick Jr, son of the Soul City founder and formerly the development’s planning chief, says that company officials visited and made direct appeals to black families in the north – many of whom had left the south just a generation earlier. |
| “It’s interesting, we’d give a ‘dog a pony’ show (a slide presentation) that could be used exactly for that purpose,” McKissick Jr recalls. “People living in Harlem and in Newark ... even if they were working hard and making a living, the price of buying a home was unaffordable. And if they did buy something, they weren’t getting much for their money.” | “It’s interesting, we’d give a ‘dog a pony’ show (a slide presentation) that could be used exactly for that purpose,” McKissick Jr recalls. “People living in Harlem and in Newark ... even if they were working hard and making a living, the price of buying a home was unaffordable. And if they did buy something, they weren’t getting much for their money.” |
| Despite its name, Soul City was never intended to be an all-black town, but rather, a multi-racial community built and managed by black people. To tamp down perceptions that he was building a racially exclusive town, the senior McKissick briefly considered changing its name to Open City. | Despite its name, Soul City was never intended to be an all-black town, but rather, a multi-racial community built and managed by black people. To tamp down perceptions that he was building a racially exclusive town, the senior McKissick briefly considered changing its name to Open City. |
| Soul City was born under the federal government’s Model Cities programme, which began in 1966. A plank in President Johnson’s anti-poverty efforts, it funded housing, employment, infrastructure and planning. Of the programme’s 14 new developments, Soul City was the only one to be built from scratch, with no pre-existing infrastructure – and the only one by a black developer. | Soul City was born under the federal government’s Model Cities programme, which began in 1966. A plank in President Johnson’s anti-poverty efforts, it funded housing, employment, infrastructure and planning. Of the programme’s 14 new developments, Soul City was the only one to be built from scratch, with no pre-existing infrastructure – and the only one by a black developer. |
| McKissick hired the black New York architecture firm Ifill, Johnson & Hanchard to turn the rolling North Carolina acreage into Soul City. The project got urban planning assistance from the very school he had sued more than 20 years earlier: the University of North Carolina. | McKissick hired the black New York architecture firm Ifill, Johnson & Hanchard to turn the rolling North Carolina acreage into Soul City. The project got urban planning assistance from the very school he had sued more than 20 years earlier: the University of North Carolina. |
| “It had probably looked pretty much the same since the 1700s and 1800s,” McKissick Jr says of the site. “So you were transforming the land, laying out plans for it.” | “It had probably looked pretty much the same since the 1700s and 1800s,” McKissick Jr says of the site. “So you were transforming the land, laying out plans for it.” |
| In a county where slaves toiled in cotton and tobacco plantations barely a century earlier, the planners envisioned a broad Soul City boulevard leading south into the development from nearby Interstate 85. The road would pass Soul City’s executive office complex and the industrial park Soultech 1. After passing a manmade lake, recreational buildings, and a shopping centre (to be developed later), the boulevard would connect to Opportunity Lane – leading into the residential areas of Soul City. | In a county where slaves toiled in cotton and tobacco plantations barely a century earlier, the planners envisioned a broad Soul City boulevard leading south into the development from nearby Interstate 85. The road would pass Soul City’s executive office complex and the industrial park Soultech 1. After passing a manmade lake, recreational buildings, and a shopping centre (to be developed later), the boulevard would connect to Opportunity Lane – leading into the residential areas of Soul City. |
| A county-wide high school and bike trails were also planned. Land was set side to grow food. Soul City would have a freight rail spur, new water purification and sewage treatment facilities, and even a fire department. | A county-wide high school and bike trails were also planned. Land was set side to grow food. Soul City would have a freight rail spur, new water purification and sewage treatment facilities, and even a fire department. |
| “You were going to bring to bear, in a rural area, urban types of interactions and economic opportunities,” recalled Eva Clayton, former executive director of the Soul City Foundation, in 1989, as part of the University of North Carolina’s Documenting the American South project. “You were going to have houses, you were going to have shops, you were possibly going to have the schools.” | “You were going to bring to bear, in a rural area, urban types of interactions and economic opportunities,” recalled Eva Clayton, former executive director of the Soul City Foundation, in 1989, as part of the University of North Carolina’s Documenting the American South project. “You were going to have houses, you were going to have shops, you were possibly going to have the schools.” |
| A new, “limited purpose” governance structure was also planned as part of the experiment. This new town government would create the infrastructure, but the operation and law-making capabilities would be left to Warren County. | A new, “limited purpose” governance structure was also planned as part of the experiment. This new town government would create the infrastructure, but the operation and law-making capabilities would be left to Warren County. |
| According to McKissick Jr: “It would have been a very liveable, planned community ... something you’d see in many places throughout America – but which was very unique for Warren County.” | According to McKissick Jr: “It would have been a very liveable, planned community ... something you’d see in many places throughout America – but which was very unique for Warren County.” |
| Visionary and bold | Visionary and bold |
| The new President Nixon supported Soul City – and on closer examination, it’s not hard to see why. The Republican party still courted black voters now and again, and the business-oriented McKissick, a believer in capitalism and free markets, had become more Republican-like. | The new President Nixon supported Soul City – and on closer examination, it’s not hard to see why. The Republican party still courted black voters now and again, and the business-oriented McKissick, a believer in capitalism and free markets, had become more Republican-like. |
| He had also grown disenchanted with the traditional civil rights movement, the Black Power movement and the Democratic party. By 1972, he was a full-on member of the Republican party who supported Nixon’s re-election. | He had also grown disenchanted with the traditional civil rights movement, the Black Power movement and the Democratic party. By 1972, he was a full-on member of the Republican party who supported Nixon’s re-election. |
| One year after Nixon was returned to power, Soul City – armed with those $14m loan guarantees that enabled it to raise capital and sell bonds to begin construction – broke ground in a November 1973 ceremony. | One year after Nixon was returned to power, Soul City – armed with those $14m loan guarantees that enabled it to raise capital and sell bonds to begin construction – broke ground in a November 1973 ceremony. |
| “It was a very exciting period,” McKissick Jr remembers. “The governor of the state flew in on a helicopter and spoke.” | “It was a very exciting period,” McKissick Jr remembers. “The governor of the state flew in on a helicopter and spoke.” |
| “Oh, it was visionary,” Clayton said in the 1989 interview. “It was bold.” | “Oh, it was visionary,” Clayton said in the 1989 interview. “It was bold.” |
| Gini Richards is one of a team of three filmmakers who are completing a 20-minute documentary on Soul City: “I think a lot of people mentioned the groundbreaking as this wonderful moment because it happened several years into the project,” she says. “Up until that point, it had been such a struggle to get buy-in and funding – you can’t build it unless you have people; but if you don’t have buildings, nobody is going to come.” | Gini Richards is one of a team of three filmmakers who are completing a 20-minute documentary on Soul City: “I think a lot of people mentioned the groundbreaking as this wonderful moment because it happened several years into the project,” she says. “Up until that point, it had been such a struggle to get buy-in and funding – you can’t build it unless you have people; but if you don’t have buildings, nobody is going to come.” |
| After the groundbreaking, Soul City’s first houses went up, along with a water system plant, a health clinic, and the Soultech 1 industrial centre. A few residents from Richmond, Virginia and Newark heeded the call and moved into this revolutionary new development. | After the groundbreaking, Soul City’s first houses went up, along with a water system plant, a health clinic, and the Soultech 1 industrial centre. A few residents from Richmond, Virginia and Newark heeded the call and moved into this revolutionary new development. |
| Constructed at its main entrance on US Highway 1 and Soul City Boulevard was the “Soul City marquee” – a 20-ft tall, rectangular concrete monument with the town’s name written in a stylish, rounded 1970s font. “I’m extremely happy with our progress at this stage,” said the elder McKissick in 1973. | Constructed at its main entrance on US Highway 1 and Soul City Boulevard was the “Soul City marquee” – a 20-ft tall, rectangular concrete monument with the town’s name written in a stylish, rounded 1970s font. “I’m extremely happy with our progress at this stage,” said the elder McKissick in 1973. |
| He was tempting fate. Getting the private sector and the necessary homebuyers to come in, sit down and invest was already proving a struggle. Then the project was dealt a heavier blow by the 1974 US oil crisis, which caused the cost of petrol to skyrocket, taking the prices of plastic piping and asphalt with it. | He was tempting fate. Getting the private sector and the necessary homebuyers to come in, sit down and invest was already proving a struggle. Then the project was dealt a heavier blow by the 1974 US oil crisis, which caused the cost of petrol to skyrocket, taking the prices of plastic piping and asphalt with it. |
| “You’d see 200 or 300% increases in costs almost overnight,” McKissick Jr says. “That meant you might as well throw the projections out of the window.” | “You’d see 200 or 300% increases in costs almost overnight,” McKissick Jr says. “That meant you might as well throw the projections out of the window.” |
| After the Watergate scandal had pushed Nixon from office in 1974, and with the project’s finances now skewing, the Raleigh News & Observer newspaper accused the elder McKissick of misspending Soul City’s government funding. | After the Watergate scandal had pushed Nixon from office in 1974, and with the project’s finances now skewing, the Raleigh News & Observer newspaper accused the elder McKissick of misspending Soul City’s government funding. |
| Then the state’s US senator Jesse Helms – a Republican and noted segregationist – demanded a federal audit of Soul City, bringing the project to a near-standstill. Alleging financial waste and mismanagement, Helms called Soul City “an insult to the hard-pressed taxpayers of North Carolina, and the nation”. | Then the state’s US senator Jesse Helms – a Republican and noted segregationist – demanded a federal audit of Soul City, bringing the project to a near-standstill. Alleging financial waste and mismanagement, Helms called Soul City “an insult to the hard-pressed taxpayers of North Carolina, and the nation”. |
| The probe found no wrongdoing, but the delay further weakened the project’s viability. With 30-year home mortgages rising above 10% in 1978, Soul City was to all intents and purposes finished – despite the arrival in April of that year of Welmetco, a manufacturer of backpacks and duffel bags. | The probe found no wrongdoing, but the delay further weakened the project’s viability. With 30-year home mortgages rising above 10% in 1978, Soul City was to all intents and purposes finished – despite the arrival in April of that year of Welmetco, a manufacturer of backpacks and duffel bags. |
| Amid severe criticism that the project wasn’t progressing, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development finally pulled its funding in 1979. The agency took over Soul City’s ownership the following year and auctioned off the town for $1.5m. | Amid severe criticism that the project wasn’t progressing, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development finally pulled its funding in 1979. The agency took over Soul City’s ownership the following year and auctioned off the town for $1.5m. |
| McKissick, who sued the department and later settled, kept a few properties under his control. Throughout the 1980s he continued to push the Soul City concept, even after becoming a judge. He died in 1991 aged 69, and was buried in Soul City. | McKissick, who sued the department and later settled, kept a few properties under his control. Throughout the 1980s he continued to push the Soul City concept, even after becoming a judge. He died in 1991 aged 69, and was buried in Soul City. |
| More than 6 million black people left the south in the first two-thirds of the 20th century. They escaped the harsh boot of Jim Crow to find a better life in the north of the country, reshaping everything from art to politics in the process. | More than 6 million black people left the south in the first two-thirds of the 20th century. They escaped the harsh boot of Jim Crow to find a better life in the north of the country, reshaping everything from art to politics in the process. |
| In this century, however, the trend is reversing. It is a phenomenon that would have been unthinkable 50 years ago; black people in their tens of thousands are returning to America’s southern states. | In this century, however, the trend is reversing. It is a phenomenon that would have been unthinkable 50 years ago; black people in their tens of thousands are returning to America’s southern states. |
| And Soul City is still there, unfinished. It’s now part of the city of Manson, North Carolina, with Soultech 1 making up a section of the county’s jail complex. But the streets, the giant Soul City sign, and other reminders of those heady days are still there. | And Soul City is still there, unfinished. It’s now part of the city of Manson, North Carolina, with Soultech 1 making up a section of the county’s jail complex. But the streets, the giant Soul City sign, and other reminders of those heady days are still there. |
| Portions of the area resemble a ghost town, rotting – or perhaps waiting. Could Soul City ever be resurrected? | Portions of the area resemble a ghost town, rotting – or perhaps waiting. Could Soul City ever be resurrected? |
| “I could see it occurring,” says McKissick Jr. “It’s just a matter of whether it’s in this decade or the next, or if it takes longer. If Soul City could all be reassembled, it could have great potential.” | “I could see it occurring,” says McKissick Jr. “It’s just a matter of whether it’s in this decade or the next, or if it takes longer. If Soul City could all be reassembled, it could have great potential.” |
| Does your city have a little-known story that made a major impact on its development? Please share it in the comments below or on Twitter using #storyofcities | Does your city have a little-known story that made a major impact on its development? Please share it in the comments below or on Twitter using #storyofcities |