From the Lincoln Street apartments, the first public housing for blacks, to homes on Broadway and rooms for rent in and around the area, All Saints Street became a hub for the black community.

‘‘It was a comfort zone,” he said. ‘‘You were in an area where everybody knew everybody and everyone is friendly. Once you walked up Market [Street] ... at any time, anything might happen. Now, society is more open and [blacks] can go anywhere.”

While many of those old businesses and residents who called the neighborhood home in the 1940s and 1950s are gone, one reality remains the same. Not many residents, then and now, own property on All Saints, but instead rented.

The revitalization of downtown Frederick has extended to the South End, as properties in the neighborhood are being bought, renovated and sold as new living spaces, forcing longtime residents to move out as prices rise.

‘‘It doesn’t make me sad,” Brown said. ‘‘Things change. Once, a whole part [off Broadway] was all apple orchards. Change happens.”

One of Brown’s classmates at the all-black Lincoln School, once located on All Saints, also has fond memories of the past, but acknowledges times have changed.

Jacquelyn Bowins, 69, has lived on All Saints Street since her family moved from the Lincoln Apartments in 1957. The house, in her family for years prior, served as everything from a rooming house for teachers, a restaurant and even a doctor’s office.

Like Brown, she remembers the nightclubs her parents told her not to look at as a youth and the numerous black doctors and dentists that once operated on the street.

She has also seen ‘‘the boom” as she calls it, as change has finally come to her neighborhood.

‘‘I think the city never really recognized us down here and then all of a sudden, the boom happened,” she said. ‘‘There were new buildings and the creek project and I’m elated that there is recognition that people actually live down here.”

As a homeowner, Bowins said she thinks the change is good, adding value to homes, but realizes the news is not so good for everyone in the All Saints neighborhood.

‘‘I was shocked when I found out how many renters there were,” she said. ‘‘People who lived in these houses were on All Saints so long, I thought they owned [the houses]. When all the upgrades started to happen, people from out of town bought [homes] and renovated them and people moved out because rents became so exorbitant.”

With a 12-room home and children in another state, Bowins herself has thought of using change in the neighborhood to her advantage, considering leasing out the bottom section for offices and upstairs for family living.

‘‘I have high hopes for this area,” she said. ‘‘I hope things continue to improve.”

Change is a mixed bag

As residents deal with changes, so do area businesses, which are witnessing the loss of some longtime customers and also the arrival of new faces through their front doors.

For the last four years, Renee Vaughn and her husband, Kevin, have run The Everything Café on All Saints Street.

Renee Vaughn said the change in housing has not really impacted business.

‘‘We’re in the historic district, so there is a lot of traffic, so it hasn’t affected us,” she said. ‘‘We’re still here and love this location.”

Next door, at S&M Food, co-owner Aurangzeb Raja also said the impact on business has been minimal, but has a stronger take on the demographic changes occurring around his store.

‘‘This is a rich man’s game to kill poor people in this neighborhood,” he said. ‘‘People who have lived here for 50 or more years are being forced out by higher rents.”

Raja points to the new Maxwell Place condos as an example of the changes, wondering who can afford a one-bedroom, one-bathroom living space for between $250,000 and $270,000.

‘‘The city needs to step in and not let rich people play games,” he said. ‘‘Change is good, but at what cost?”

Frederick Mayor W. Jeff Holtzinger (R) is well aware of the changes occurring on All Saints Street and called the population shift ‘‘a real concern. There is a legitimate concern that people are being pushed out down there,” he said. ‘‘There are people who rented forever and didn’t buy sooner ... so I don’t know what the answer is.”

Richard Griffin, director of the city’s department of economic development, said more housing downtown means a more economically vibrant downtown.

‘‘I want a mixture of housing sizes, types, income levels and a strong ratio of home ownership to renting,” he said. ‘‘I think there are pros and cons to revitalization and I’m not sure they don’t balance each other out.”

In the South End, Griffin has seen ‘‘great re-birth,” but says the issues that come with change are not unique to the area, to Frederick, or even Maryland.

‘‘We can’t say we are the first community in the United States to experience the pains of revitalization,” he said. ‘‘There is some good and some bad ... But the downtown is coming back and people are nostalgic for that.”

Providing housing for all

At the corner of West All Saints and South Market streets, the Lafayette Square project is playing a big part in the revitalization of downtown.

Twenty-five condominium units will sit around and above four commercial spaces ranging from 297 to 935 square feet.

The mixed-use plan is one being used in many downtowns and something the company feels can add a lot to Frederick.

‘‘Prices between $169,000 and $249,000 for the downtown area, we feel, is affordable,” Alice Faison of Lafayette Square LLC said. ‘‘There is nothing else for sale where you can walk downtown [at that price] ....”

Of the 25 units, only one remains available, Faison said, as ‘‘mostly first-time homeowners” have taken advantage of the units in a building she said was not fully occupied when the company bought it. As for the commercial space, Faison said while no plans are firm, neighbors are hoping for something such as a co-op market with produce and other items.

At the beginning of All Saints Street, the 68-unit Maxwell Place condominium project is being completed, consisting of one- and two-bedroom luxury units. To date, about 24 units are still available, at prices ranging from $250,000 to $738,000 for a two-bedroom, two-bath unit with study and balcony. Representatives for K. Hovnanian Homes, developer of the project, declined requests for comment for this story.

With luxury and mid-priced offerings, perhaps the most intriguing housing project is one taking current All Saints homes and offering them to low- and moderate-income families.

The work is not spearheaded by a developer or the city, but instead a longtime All Saints institution: Asbury United Methodist Church, established in 1818.

Shortly after his arrival at the church in 2000, the Rev. Dr. Burton L. Mack helped create the Asbury Redevelopment Trust, a nonprofit entity to take several church-owned properties and turn them into affordable housing.

While Mack lives in Hagerstown, the church rents out its parsonage at the end of All Saints to three or four families.

The church is currently rehabilitating one house, with help in part from a city grant, with hopes to refurbish up to three more of its properties for families to live downtown.

‘‘The challenge is not to sell to those continuing to change the neighborhood,” Mack said. ‘‘Our hope is to develop so low- and moderate-income people can still live in this neighborhood.”

Mack said the Trust hopes to partner with a local developer to move along future projects and preserve what is left of the All Saints community.

‘‘We know we can never get back to the way it was, but we have to preserve community life and be a stabilizing force in the community,” he said.

Preserving the past

As progress moves All Saints Street forward, the past is not being left behind.

Brown belongs to the African-American Resources Cultural and Heritage committee, dedicated to preserving Frederick’s past, in part through a black history museum.

A building is still in the works, but word of mouth and education will do for now, Bowins said. She is the niece of Lord Nickens, 93, a longtime Frederick County resident and civil rights advocate. Between his knowledge and the experiences of others, Bowins said, history will remain alive.

‘‘There are quite a few black historians that can keep everyone abreast of what was,” she said. ‘‘As for [All Saints Street], some aren’t here anymore, but there are enough of us around to make sure the history stays. We’ll let the newcomers know and keep the past alive.”