- Law & zoning
- Segregation
- 1922–1924
- City of Atlanta
- General area only
The 1922 zone plan's race districts
Atlanta's first zoning plan, prepared by consultant Robert Whitten for the City Planning Commission, divided residential land into white, colored and undetermined race districts. The Georgia Supreme Court voided the racial provisions in Bowen v. City of Atlanta (1924).
The record
The 1922 Atlanta Zone Plan classified residential districts by race as well as by use. Its report stated that 'the above race zoning is essential in the interest of the public peace, order and security and will promote the welfare and prosperity of both the white and colored race' (Atlanta Through the Archives). The ordinance created an 'R-1 white district' and an 'R-2 colored district' (Georgia Tech Center for Urban Research). The Georgia Supreme Court struck the race provisions down in 1924, but the Center for Urban Research notes that public and private practice kept the pattern the map had drawn. GSU's georeferenced 1929 zoning map shows use districts only (dwelling, apartment, business, industrial).
Today: Nothing of the race districts survives in law. The 1922 map is held by the Atlanta History Center's Kenan Research Center.
Where on the map: Citywide, within the 1922 city limits (Emory AtlantaAnnexations:Annex_1922_whole). The 1922 racial zone map image is linked from the Atlanta Through the Archives page (Kenan Research Center).