- Urban renewal
- Segregation
- late 1950s–1965
- City of Atlanta
- General area only
Washington-Rawson and the stadium
An in-town neighborhood south of downtown, next to Mechanicsville, Summerhill and Peoplestown. It was cut off by the expressways and then cleared by renewal project R-10, and Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium was finished on 47 acres of it in 1965.
The record
Georgia Exhibits describes Washington-Rawson as a desirable neighborhood with a thriving Jewish community in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Expressway construction separated it from downtown in the early 1960s. Mayor Allen's plan designated space for 1,000 public housing units and a 47-acre site for a stadium meant to attract a major-league team. The exhibit says thousands of residents were displaced and that the stadium fed grievances about the 'false promise of urban renewal' in the surrounding neighborhoods. The Housing Authority reported project R-10 at about 123 acres in 1969.
Today: The 1965 stadium was demolished after the 1997 season. Its lots and the Olympic stadium site now belong to Georgia State University.
Where on the map: Project and clearance boundaries are on GSU layers atlpm0129b–atlpm0132, south of downtown around the old Rawson and Washington streets, where the stadium and its lots were built.