Fayetteville group continues push for Black Historic District

By Jacob Murphy

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    FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas (KHBS, KHOG) — The NWA Black Heritage group is looking to create a Black Historic District in Fayetteville.

The selected area covers parts of the city in between College Ave, Wood Ave, Fletcher Ave, and Spring Street.

“We understand how rapidly Northwest Arkansas is growing and evolving,” NWA Black Heritage Representative Emma Willis said. “We didn’t want to miss the opportunity to create what will be the first black historic district here in Northwest Arkansas.”

The group will need to collect around 325 signatures from property owners in the area for it to officially become a historic district.

“We want everybody to be educated on the history of Arkansas,” Willis said. “No matter who the people were, they created the history; I think we all need to know the spaces in the places that we occupy.”

Willis talked about some of the concerns of homeowners in the area.

“That is always the first concern to anybody in a historic district,” Willis said. “As a property owner, what rights are being removed from me.”

Willis says that the group has had conversations with people concerned, and signs that were calling for the district to be canceled have been taken down.

“The soul holds all the history, and very few of the houses in this district actually reflect the era in which black people were here,” Willis said.

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