This is 99% invisible. I'm Roman Mars.

In the early 1950s, Sam Moore and his family left rural Arkansas, looking to start a new life.

They planned on moving to Chicago.

We were on our way to Chicago with all our worldly possessions and our dog spot,

and we started off in my granddaddy's 53 Dinaflowe Bewick and got to St. Louis and ran out of gas.

And instead of continuing on to Illinois, Moore's family just decided to stay.

They settled in a middle-class area called the

Ville. Back then St. Louis was segregated and the Ville was one of the only

African-American neighborhoods in the city. But residents of the Ville made the best of it.

That's reporter, Zach Dyer.

Black-owned businesses thrived, and the neighborhood became one of the most prosperous African-American communities in the country.

Do you mind if we just roll the windows up just for the recording?

Okay, I turn the arrow on.

Sammoor's dad got a job as a bricklayer and helped build some of the beautiful stately brick homes in this area.

He was a great bricklare. He did quite a few jobs around this town. I still see some of my dad's work.

Oh, wow, really?

Mm-hmm.

It was beautiful homes, triple break, three-story, two-story buildings that would cost a

million dollars to duplicate. But driving around the Ville today, where Moore has lived for almost his entire life and is now the Alderman,

the neighborhood looks very different.

We pull up in front of a couple of old houses.

Hold on one second. Look at these two buildings. Look at that building. You can see

...