The neighborhood around the intersection of 22nd Street S. and 9th Avenue S. was once the most important area in St. Petersburg's most vibrant African-American neighborhood during segregation, when African Americans were forced by law to live there and were generally not welcome downtown or in white residential areas. Although this violated their freedom, the community built a self-sufficient and independent spirit. The area began developing among palmettos and pine woods during the 1920s as new industries offered jobs and white city leaders encouraged African Americans to move from older black neighborhoods. The core of 22nd Street S., between 5th and 15th Avenues S., became a commercial and entertainment center with stores, restaurants, professional services, nightclubs, and beer gardens, led by the Manhattan Casino, which hosted dances, house bands, leading musicians, and gospel singers. A few Jewish merchants, also barred from opening downtown, got their start there. In contrast, the 9th Avenue S. corridor between 16th and 24th Streets S. developed as a center of churches, schools, and civil organizations, anchored by Jordan Elementary on the west and Sixteenth Street Junior High and Immaculate Conception Catholic School on the east. For decades, a dozen churches along or near the avenue served many denominations. Gradual integration and the coming of the interstate damaged the street's commercial, professional, and entertainment bases as well as its cultural identity, and serious decline was evident by the 1970s.