Courtesy of Elyse Butler
Year Erected: 2022
Marker Text: At this site stood Techwood Homes. Conceptualized by developer Charles Palmer, the 604-unit development replaced the overcrowded Tech Flats neighborhood near Palmer’s properties. Simultaneously, Atlanta University President John Hope sought to raze the Beaver Slide neighborhood adjacent to the Atlanta University Center. Palmer and Hope applied separately for funding from the federal Public Works Administration (PWA), created to encourage economic recovery during the Great Depression. In 1933, the PWA funded the construction of Techwood Homes for White Atlantans and University Homes for Black Atlantans, the nation’s first federally funded housing projects. Completed in 1936 and 1937, respectively, the projects led to the Atlanta Housing Authority’s creation in 1938. Integrating in 1968, Techwood Homes provided housing for the community until its demolition in 1995 in preparation for the Centennial Olympic Games. Only the Cupola Building remains.
Erected by the Georgia Historical Society, Emory University’s Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, & Rare Book Library, and the Atlanta Housing Authority
