Ferry Street School: From ashes to a community landmark

NILES, Mich. -- The City of Niles celebrates the grand opening of Ferry Street School Memorial Park, marking the completion of a project to preserve the last remaining piece of the historic Ferry Street School after a 2023 fire destroyed the building. Only the school's original facade survived the blaze; that wall now anchors the new park at the corner of 7th and Ferry Streets.

The Ferry Street School was built in 1867 to serve Niles' Black children before the city's schools integrated a few years later. The site has remained a touchstone for the neighborhood's history ever since, most recently as home to the Ferry Street Resource Center.

Niles' mayor and the head of the local NAACP chapter offered remarks before the ribbon cutting. Charlie McAfee, who spent years helping out at the school in a variety of informal roles, including what she described as being seen as a disciplinarian, a counselor, and a grandmother figure to the children there cut the ceremonial ribbon. McAfee, who has witnessed decades of racial injustice and dedicated much of her life to youth advocacy and civil rights in the Niles community, said she was relieved the scissors were sharp enough that she didn't fumble the cut.

Speaking afterward, McAfee reflected that many young people today don't carry the same reverence for elders and history that she grew up with and said she believes much of that gap comes from history simply being forgotten, people not recognizing what was sacrificed to reach this point. She called the new park a meaningful reminder of that history, and a symbol of hope for the community going forward.