The Bottoms Community

To this day, people who grew up in Battle Creek during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s will still debate with each other about the geographic extent of the neighborhood known as the Bottoms. Former residents of the Bottoms will still find themselves in friendly disagreement about which businesses, homes, and schools counted as part of the Bottoms, and about which streets marked the boundaries between the Bottoms and Midway.

Despite minor disagreements over the reaches of their neighborhood, former residents of the Bottoms will rarely dispute the fact that they were members of a community bound by shared experiences and, now, by powerful memories. Those who lived in the Bottoms formed part of a community given shape by transformative events such as the 1947 Flood, by iconic figures such as Julia Milner, and by landmark institutions such as the Hamblin Community Center, Chicken Charlie’s, and the El Grotto Lounge. This part of “Memories From Hamblin” will consider the people, places, and events that defined the community that lived in the Bottoms.