Pittsburgh Hill District Demolished for Civic Arena, 8,000 Displaced

In 1956, Pittsburgh's urban renewal authority demolishes the Lower Hill District — the heart of Black Pittsburgh's cultural life, home to jazz clubs, the Pittsburgh Courier newspaper, churches, and 8,000 residents — to build the Civic Arena. Residents receive inadequate compensation and are scattered throughout the city. The arena is built without a single unit of replacement housing. The destruction is dramatized decades later by playwright August Wilson, who set his Pittsburgh Cycle plays in the Hill District.