The Legacy of Highway Displacement in Binghamton: The Construction of the North Shore Drive in the Seventh Ward

Author: Alice Liu

Field of Study: Social Sciences

Program Affiliation: Source Project Research Program

Faculty Mentors: Wendy Wall

Easel: 48

Timeslot: Afternoon

Abstract: The 1950s and early 1960s were a peak time for highway construction both in Binghamton and around the country. Many scholars have noted that highway construction in many cities resulted in demolished communities leaving their poor and minority residents displaced. The impact of highway construction in Binghamton, however, has received little attention. This paper focuses on the displacement of residents, mostly Black and Italian Americans, as a result of the construction of the North Shore Drive through Binghamton’s Seventh Ward. It draws on local Binghamton newspaper articles and census records of individuals who lived in the former Seventh Ward. This paper not only aims to establish the displacement that took place, but also the economic and racial impacts that highway displacement had on African American and Italian American individuals. Moreover, it further utilizes research on the subsequent destruction of their sense of community within Binghamton during this construction of the North Shore Drive.