Techwood Homes
Techwood Homes Historic District | |
 Techwood Homes, late 1930s | |
    | |
| Location | Atlanta, Georgia |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 33°46′4″N84°23′30″W/ 33.76778°N 84.39167°W |
| Built | 1935 |
| Architect | Burge & Stevens;J.A. Jones & Co. |
| Architectural style | Colonial Revival |
| NRHP referenceNo. | 76000632 |
| Added to NRHP | June 29, 1976[1] |
Techwood Homeswas an earlypublic housingproject in theAtlanta, Georgiain theUnited States,opened just before theFirst Houses.Thewhites-onlyTechwood Homes replaced an integrated settlement of low-income people known asTanyard Bottomor Tech Flats. It was completed on August 15, 1936,[2]but was dedicated on November 29 of the previous year byU.S. PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt.The new whites-only apartments included bathtubs and electric ranges in each unit, 189 of which had garages.[3]Central laundry facilities, a kindergarten and a library were also provided. Techwood Homes was demolished in advance of the 1996 Olympics and is now Centennial Place Apartments.[4]
History
[edit]The complex was designed byGeorgia Techalumnus and architectFlippen David BurgeofBurge and Stevens(laterStevens & Wilkinson),[5]and organized byCharles Forrest Palmer,a real estate developer who had become an expert on public housing and would later head up both the newly createdAtlanta Housing Authorityand theChamber of Commerce.[6]The landscaping was designed byEdith Henderson,who also designed the neighboring Clark Howell Homes with her partner Grace Campbell.[7][8]
The name came from Techwood Drive, in turn named for nearbyGeorgia Tech.The project included a 300-student dormitory for Georgia Tech, McDaniel Dormitory, commonly referred to as Techwood Dorm. It was run by theAtlanta Housing Authority.Throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s the area was synonymous with urban blight in Atlanta.
Techwood Homes was built on land cleared by demolishing the Flats, a de facto integrated shantytown adjacent to downtown, home to 1,611 families, most poor, 28% African American.[9]The Public Works Administration replaced the shantytown with 604 units for white families only, with income qualifiers out of the range of many former inhabitants.[10]
The neighboring Clark Howell Homes was built in 1941 in a less institutional style.A. Ten Eyck Brownwas the architect. Clark Howell was also reserved for whites until 1968, with an all-black counterpart at theUniversity Homesproject (built 1938) nearAtlanta University Center.[11]
Except for a few historic buildings, Techwood Homes wasdemolishedin 1996 before the1996 Summer Olympics.It and neighboring Clark Howell Homes are now amixed-usearea calledCentennial Place.[2]The first phase opened in 1996 just before the Centennial Olympics, hence the new name. Former residents were relocated to other areas, givenSection 8vouchers to assist withrent.Only 78 of the original residents were able to move back into Centennial Place, which had far fewer subsidized units than Techwood Homes.[12][9]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^"National Register Information System".National Register of Historic Places.National Park Service.April 15, 2008.
- ^ab"Techwood Homes".The Atlanta Housing Authority.RetrievedAugust 6,2007.
- ^Sams, Gerald W. (ed): "AIA Guide to the Architecture of Atlanta", page 153. University of Georgia Press, 1993.
- ^"Old Atlanta by Charla Johnson June 9, 2020".April 29, 2020.
- ^McMath, Robert C.; Bayor, Ronald H.; Brittain, James E.; Foster, Lawrence; Giebelhaus, August W.; Reed, Germaine M.Engineering the New South: Georgia Tech 1885–1985.Athens, GA:University of Georgia Press.
- ^Biographical note, "Palmer, Charles F.", Emory Library EmoryFindingAid
- ^"Edith Henderson Papers".The Atlanta History Center website. Accessed Oct. 13, 2015.
- ^Catron, Staci L."Biography of Edith Harrison Henderson".The Cultural Landscape Foundation website, August 11, 2015.
- ^abHolliman, Irene V. "Techwood Homes." New Georgia Encyclopedia. 26 August 2020. Web. 28 July 2021.
- ^Rothstein, Richard(2017).The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America.pp. 21–22.ISBN9781631492860.OCLC985448400.
- ^Sams, page 154
- ^Portwood, Jerry (February 6, 2002)."Techwood turnaround".Creative Loafing Atlanta.Creative Loafing Media.RetrievedDecember 1,2007.
External links
[edit]
- Techwood HomesNew Georgia Encyclopedia
- Techwood history at artery.org
- Atlanta Housing Interplay
- Historic American Buildings Survey(HABS) No. GA-2257, "Techwood Homes (Public Housing), Bounded by North Avenue, Parker Street, William Street & Lovejoy Street, Atlanta, Fulton County, GA",30 photos, 4 measured drawings, 46 data pages, 6 photo caption pages, and 24 other entries for individual structures such as:
- HABS No. GA-2257-C, "Techwood Homes, Building No. 1, 575-579 Techwood Drive, Atlanta, Fulton County, GA",24 photos, 6 measured drawings, 13 data pages, 4 photo caption pages
- HABS No. GA-2309, "Clark Howell Homes (Public Housing), Bounded by North Avenue, Lovejoy Street, Mills Street & Luckie Street, Atlanta, Fulton County, GA",54 photos, 28 data pages, 8 photo caption pages, and 13 other entries for individual structures such as:
- HABS No. GA-2309-B, "Clark Howell Homes, Anne Wallace Branch Carnegie Library, 538 Luckie Street, Atlanta, Fulton County, GA",16 photos, 13 data pages, 3 photo caption pages
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- History of Atlanta
- Public housing in Atlanta
- Demolished buildings and structures in Atlanta
- Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state)
- Historic American Buildings Survey in Georgia (U.S. state)
- Buildings and structures completed in 1935
- A. Ten Eyck Brown buildings
- National Register of Historic Places in Atlanta
- Public Works Administration in Georgia (U.S. state)
- Buildings and structures demolished in 1996