Lakewood Heights is a primarily Black (and historically also a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

working-class) neighborhood in southeast

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

. It is bounded by: * the Betmar LaVilla, the Villages at Carver, and South Atlanta neighborhoods on the north, * the

Chosewood Park Chosewood Park is a neighborhood in southeast Atlanta, Georgia in the United States. It is located south of Peoplestown and Grant Park, west of Boulevard Heights and Benteen Park, northwest of Thomasville Heights and the Atlanta federal pen ...

neighborhood on the northeast, * the

Norwood Manor Norwood may refer to: Places Australia * Norwood, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide ** Norwood Football Club, an Australian rules football club * Electoral district of Norwood, a state electoral district in South Australia * Norwood, Tasma ...

neighborhood on the southeast, * the

Polar Rock Polar may refer to: Geography Polar may refer to: * Geographical pole, either of two fixed points on the surface of a rotating body or planet, at 90 degrees from the equator, based on the axis around which a body rotates *Polar climate, the cli ...

, Swallow Circle/Baywood and

Lakewood Lakewood may refer to: Places Australia * Lakewood, Western Australia, an abandoned town in Western Australia Canada * Lakewood, Edmonton, Alberta * Lakewood Suburban Centre, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Philippines * Lakewood, Zamboanga del S ...

neighborhoods on the south * the

Downtown Connector In Downtown Atlanta, the Downtown Connector or 75/85 (pronounced "seventy-five eighty-five") is the concurrent section of Interstate 75 and Interstate 85 through the core of the city. Beginning at the I-85/ Langford Parkway interchang ...

on the west, across which lie the Sylvan Hills and Capitol View Homes neighborhoods Lakewood Heights contains the Lakewood Heights Historic District, listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

History

Factors leading to development

Lakewood Heights developed as the result of three separate factors: * The

streetcar line A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport a ...

along Jonesboro Road, which enabled commercial and residential development along the corridor * Parallel to that, development of an industrial area including the General Motors Lakewood Assembly plant * Development of a black neighborhood around the Gammon Theological Seminary and

Clark University Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research universities in th ...

, now the site of The New Schools at Carver high school * Development of the Southeast Regional Fairgrounds on the site of the city's first waterworks plant along Lakewood Avenue—streetcar access from

Downtown Atlanta Downtown Atlanta is the central business district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The larger of the city's two other commercial districts ( Midtown and Buckhead), it is the location of many corporate and regional headquarters; city, county, ...

enabled subsequent development of public and private housing projects along Pryor Road, then a major artery to and from downtown

Private enterprise and model homes

One section of Lakewood Heights is Oak Knoll, which was noted in a 1937 meeting between Techwood Homes organizer

Charles Forrest Palmer Charles Forrest Palmer (December 29, 1892 - June 16, 1973) was an Atlanta real estate developer who became an expert on public housing and organized the building of Techwood Homes, the first public housing project in the United States. He would lat ...

, President

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

, first lady

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

and

Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

Henry Morgenthau, Jr. Henry Morgenthau Jr. (; May 11, 1891February 6, 1967) was the United States Secretary of the Treasury during most of the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He played a major role in designing and financing the New Deal. After 1937, while s ...

Roosevelt was delighted that private enterprise—backed by guarantees the

Federal Housing Administration The Federal Housing Administration (FHA), also known as the Office of Housing within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), is a United States government agency founded by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, created in part b ...

—could provide good homes at moderate rentals. The conversation about Oak Knoll drew the conclusion that private projects were in fact strengthened by public housing projects serving as a "pace setter", and helped support arguments for a more proactive nationwide public housing policy.Charles Forrest Palmer, ''Adventures of a Slum Fighter''
/ref> The house at 1099 Oak Knoll Drive was featured in a 1938 issue of ''Life'' magazine, as it was a ''Life'' "model house"; the model kits were available for purchase from retailers around the country.

Assembly plant to media productions

The neighborhood was home to the

Lakewood Fairgrounds Lakewood Fairgrounds, established in 1916 in Lakewood Heights, Atlanta, was built to be the home of the Southeastern Fair. The Lakewood Fairgrounds was located on of former Creek Indian land, which was situated around a lake. The Southeaster ...

which until 1979 had a racetrack,

Lakewood Speedway Lakewood Speedway was a race track located south of Atlanta, Georgia, in Lakewood, just north of the eastern arm of Langford Parkway (formerly Lakewood Freeway). The track held many kinds of races between 1919 and 1979, including events sanctione ...

. Now the Lakewood (a.k.a. Aaron's, a.k.a. Hi-Fi Buys) Amphitheater is located on the old fairgrounds. Around 1970 the area began to decline as middle-class families moved away. The assembly plant finally closed in 1990. The area is now an important center of the growing Atlanta-area film and television production industry. The

EUE/Screen Gems EUE/Screen Gems Ltd. is an American film and television studio production company that owns and operates facilities in Wilmington, North Carolina; Atlanta, Georgia; and Miami, Florida. The company collaborates with other studios and producers fo ...

Atlanta soundstages were established there in mid-2010 and by Autumn 2011 were already expanding.''Atlanta Journal Constitution'' Radio & TV Talk blog: "EUE/Screen Gems studios at Lakewood in expansion mode", September 2011

Parks

* South Bend Park (76.6 acres) * John C. Burdine Center (4.27 acres)

Gallery

Georgia20131016 123 Lakewood Heights Historic District.jpg, Lakewood Heights Historic District Georgia20131016 122 Lakewood Heights Historic District.jpg, Lakewood Heights Historic District Georgia20131016 121 Lakewood Heights Historic District.jpg, Lakewood Heights Historic District Georgia20131016 120 Lakewood Heights Historic District.jpg, Lakewood Heights Historic District Georgia20131016 119 Lakewood Heights Historic District.jpg, Lakewood Heights Historic District Georgia20131016 118 Lakewood Heights Historic District.jpg, Lakewood Heights Historic District Georgia20131016 117 Lakewood Heights Historic District.jpg, Lakewood Heights Historic District Georgia20131016 116 Lakewood Heights Historic District.jpg, Lakewood Heights Historic District

References

External links

Lakewood Heights Civic Association

Sustainable Lakewood: History of Lakewood Heights

Friends of South Bend Park
{{Coord, 33.704246, -84.386413, display=inline,title African-American history in Atlanta Historic Jewish communities in the United States Jews and Judaism in Atlanta National Register of Historic Places in Atlanta Neighborhoods in Atlanta Streetcar suburbs Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state) Working-class culture in the United States