Historic Designation Advisory Board presents Detroit Latinx history project; National Register district approved

Historic Designation Advisory Board staff on Wednesday presented the results of the Detroit Latinx History Project, including a National Register historic district and a public-facing story map intended to document and preserve Latinx heritage in Southwest Detroit.

Kelsey Moss, a preservation planner with HDAD, said the project was grant-funded through the National Park Service's Underrepresented Community grant and produced a comprehensive context report and a public story map. "This project is grant funded through the National Park Service as an underrepresented community grant," Moss said, describing the project's goals to survey, inventory and designate historic properties and to ensure a fuller American narrative.

Ian Tomashek said the Bagley West Vernor National Register Historic District (approved by the National Park Service) encompasses 116 buildings and includes areas commonly known as Mexicantown; he noted commercial property owners within the district may qualify for a 20% federal historic tax credit for qualifying rehabilitation work. Janice Chapman, HDAD director, told the committee the context report will be available in English and Spanish and that the story map is intended as a public, accessible companion to the larger scholarly work.

Council members praised the project as a resource to preserve community stories amid rapid change and gentrification and asked whether the broader context report captures other Latinx histories citywide. HDAD staff said the National Register boundary is place-based but the context report addresses movement and broader themes and can be augmented over time. The committee voted to receive and file the report.