Who knows where Greensboro's first city dump was located? According to the Greensboro Historical Museum, the first Greensboro City Dump was located south of East Market Street and north of McConnell Road on an L shaped property located approximately in the location shown below.
View Larger Map
The placement of the dump wasn't anything racial as the area was mostly white and prosperous at the time but years later one can't help but wonder about the City of Greensboro's decision to place thousands of low income, mostly black residents in apartments that encircled the L shaped site of the old city dump. McConnell Road was a main thoroughfare back then as East Lee Street was still a residential street that had yet to be extended to reach O'Henry Blvd and US 29 was but a 2 lane road.
Interestingly enough, during World War II, the site of the White Street Landfill was a US Army Rifle Range and the Army dumped their trash not in the City Dump which bordered the military base at that time but at Bill Glass's privately owned dump which used to be located next door to the White Street Rifle Range.
Do you have any idea of the $Millions of dollars in recyclables, antiques and other treasures that are buried there today? A man with a track hoe and a dump truck could become filthy rich and clean up the environment at the same time.
To the top right of the map is the south edge of the Bessemer Sanatation District, otherwise known as the Bessemer Community. While unincorporated it was in-fact larger than Greensboro and self-supporting prior to being deliberately destroyed by the City of Greensboro.
View Larger Map
The placement of the dump wasn't anything racial as the area was mostly white and prosperous at the time but years later one can't help but wonder about the City of Greensboro's decision to place thousands of low income, mostly black residents in apartments that encircled the L shaped site of the old city dump. McConnell Road was a main thoroughfare back then as East Lee Street was still a residential street that had yet to be extended to reach O'Henry Blvd and US 29 was but a 2 lane road.
Interestingly enough, during World War II, the site of the White Street Landfill was a US Army Rifle Range and the Army dumped their trash not in the City Dump which bordered the military base at that time but at Bill Glass's privately owned dump which used to be located next door to the White Street Rifle Range.
Do you have any idea of the $Millions of dollars in recyclables, antiques and other treasures that are buried there today? A man with a track hoe and a dump truck could become filthy rich and clean up the environment at the same time.
To the top right of the map is the south edge of the Bessemer Sanatation District, otherwise known as the Bessemer Community. While unincorporated it was in-fact larger than Greensboro and self-supporting prior to being deliberately destroyed by the City of Greensboro.
