I just picked an intersection in Orange Mound. There actually is a Walgreens there (I think).
Ive changed a tire at that same intersection at 1130 at night before. I could have made a NASCAR pit crew with my time changing that tire.
I never heard this area called Orange Mound as a kid, although I know it’s called this now, no idea why. My mother and uncle were born and raised on Tanglewood, two blocks off Lamar, just short of Waverly. The neighborhood was always called “Tanglewood and Lamar”, with a lot of pride. Lots of 2/1’s and 3/1’s. When we came to visit my grandmother, I’d go with kids in the neighborhood to Katz, 15 minutes away. We thought we were Hot Chit, running off the leash.
My mother and I went back in 2018, before her Big Fall, and visited her street. She was determined to visit her old house, and fortunately, the current owner, a sweet and gracious lady, was glad to oblige and invite her in. They traded stories about their times there, a white girl born in 1927 and a Black lady who bought the house with her preacher husband in 1984 after my grandmother died, and who was later widowed. The house and yard were immaculate, and the neighborhood seemed to be on its way back up.
Tanglewood had always been a nice blue-collar street, and these days, after a pretty rough period, it looks like it once again is. The only difference seems to be that the necks in those collars used to be white, and now, with a few exceptions, they’re Black.
I’m still shocked at the two massive missing oaks in the front yard and the azaleas underneath, but here’s a house that has sheltered only two families since 1923, which I think is pretty damned remarkable:
