I’m in the middle of reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X, and I’m at the chapter where he moves to Detroit after converting to the Nation of Islam.
Malcolm mentions the NOI’s Temple No #1, citing an address on Frederick St. That wasn’t the Temple’s first address, nor was it the final one. Temple Number 1 now stands at 11529 Linwood Street, in Detroit’s Dexter Linwood neighborhood. Although it’s formally known as Temple Number 1, it is also referred to as Masjid Wali Muhammad [1].
The temple’s first address was actually at 3408 Hastings Street, in Detroit’s Black Bottom neighborhood. Unfortunately, most of Hastings Street, Black Bottom, and adjacent Paradise Valley were destroyed during urban renewal in the 60s. Southbound Chrysler Service Drive (I-75) now occupies the sites where Hastings Street once stood.
However, I thought it would be interesting to locate the approximate site of Temple Number 1 in present day Detroit. There are plenty of historical maps from that era, and there are still portions of the pre-expressway street grid that are still standing. It shouldn’t be hard to combine the two to give us an idea of where it would have stood.
I start with a great resource for understanding cities – the Sanborn fire maps. Starting in 1867, the Sanborn Map Company created detailed maps of many American cities, to assist insurance companies in assessing risk. These maps contain a wealth of information about cities, including addresses and uses. We can use these maps to locate 3408’s cross street (Hastings and __), and match it up with the existing street grid to find the location.
Here we have the index for the Sanborn Fire Map for Detroit, Vol. 3, 1921. From the index, we can access more detailed insets. Using some trial and error, I found the relevant inset on Map 17.
From here, we can see that the 3408 Hastings was between Erskine and Benton Streets (the street names are out of view of this screenshot, but you can follow my link above). After consulting the index map again, it appears that Benton and Erskine form straight lines between Brush/Beaubien and Russell Street. So we should be able to draw straight lines from where the streets still exist today, rebuilding the grid to help us find 3408 Hastings.
On Google Maps, I’ve drawn straight lines extending Benton and Erskine to the Southbound I-75 service Drive.
From the 1921 map, we know that 3408 was more towards the Erskine side of this block, rather than the Benton one. (In the 1921 map, right is South). Below is the approximate location of Temple Number 1 of the Nation of Islam.
The present day site is a patch of grass sandwiched between the expressway and the Brewster Homes, so it’s not much to look at. But it’s fascinating to think about the history that this patch of grass contained, and the characters that passed through the door’s of the Castle Theater to hear Wallace Fard Muhammad and Elijah Muhammad speak.
Citations: