The Fairbank Flats were originally row houses and were constructed during 1917 for Beloit’s community of African Americans, who worked for an engine manufacturer named Fairbanks Morse.  After a number of decades Fairbanks Morse sold off the houses, the residents moved away, and by the late 1990s the properties were vacant. In 1999 the City of Beloit bought the properties, considered tearing them down and redeveloping the site, but because of Fairbanks Flats’s historical value, the community opposed demolition. The City then worked with the community and other stakeholders to find a way to keep the historic sites. The solution came when Gorman & Company, a development company, the Fairbanks Flats Neighborhood Association and the City worked together and turned the Fairbanks Flats into 16 rent to own affordable row homes for low income families and for people with disabilities.