More financial institutions, professionals, educators, entertainers and politicians were on this one mile of street than any other African American Street in the South.  The street was "paved in gold" observed John Wesley Dobbs.  Today the buildings on Auburn Avenue honor the determination and tenacity of Black Americans operating within the confines of determination and tenacity of Black Americans operating within the confines of extreme social and economic segregation between 1880 and 1965 to create a thriving community and six centers of higher education adjacent to this street.