Rosa Parks' former home in Detroit has earned local historic designation
The former Detroit home of the late civil rights activist Rosa Parks has been approved for a local historic district designation.
Detroit City Council voted Tuesday to establish the Rosa and Raymond Parks Flat Historic District. The step takes effect immediately for the two-story home in the 3200 block of Virginia Park Street where the Parks lived for 27 years.
A public hearing on the matter took place June 26 under the jurisdiction of the Detroit City Council Planning and Economic Development Standing Committee.
Rosa Parks, who was active in the Civil Rights Movement, became nationally known for her refusal to follow the Jim Crow-era laws in Montgomery, Alabama.
Specifically, she refused to give up her seat on a bus and move to the back of the vehicle on Dec. 1, 1955. Her arrest in that incident helped spark the Montgomery bus boycott.
Eventually, Rosa and Raymond Parks settled in Detroit.
He died in 1977. She died in 2005.
Detroit's local historic districts are meant to be associated with people or events that are a significant part of Detroit's history, or have artistic or historical significance. Once a local historic district is established for a site, any exterior alterations to the building must go through the Historic District Commission.
