Dunbar Village is a 246-unit

public housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

community located within the North Tamarind neighborhood of

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...

, United States. The community is directly east of North Tamarind Avenue, and borders the neighborhoods of Pleasant City and Northwood Pines. It is named after the late 19th- and early 20th-century poet,

Paul Laurence Dunbar Paul Laurence Dunbar (June 27, 1872 – February 9, 1906) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Dayton, Ohio, to parents who had been enslaved in Kentucky before the American C ...

. The community was built from 1939 to 1940 for

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

s, and is alike to Liberty Square and Edison Courts in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

for its "army barracks" configuration. Constructed shortly after the passage of the

Housing Act of 1937 The Housing Act of 1937 (), formally the "United States Housing Act of 1937" and sometimes called the Wagner–Steagall Act, provided for subsidies to be paid from the United States federal government to local public housing agencies (LHAs) to ...

, the community is one of the first public housing in the state of Florida. The community had received significant attention after an assault and rape within the premises that occurred on June 18, 2007. According to

The Palm Beach Post ''The Palm Beach Post'' is an American daily newspaper serving Palm Beach County in South Florida, and parts of the Treasure Coast. On March 18, 2018, in a deal worth US$42.35 million, ''The Palm Beach Post'' and '' The Palm Beach Daily News' ...

and

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

, up to ten men had gang-raped a thirty-five-year-old woman for three hours and then forced her to perform oral sex on her twelve-year-old son, who was also beaten and doused with household chemicals. As of September 3, police had arrested four suspects, ranging in age from 14 to 18.Associated Press.
"Florida Police Arrest Two Teens in Gang-Rape of Woman, Forcing Son to Participate"
''

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

'', 2007-07-06. Retrieved on 2009-05-15. However, the community reverted to its rather peaceful state months into the investigation. A security gate has been installed and numerous housing blocks have been boarded-up, awaiting demolition for upcoming redevelopment. When completed, the redeveloped community will have both mixed-income rentals and renovations to the current, historical housing blocks.

References

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External links

West Palm Beach Housing Authority
Public housing in the United States Buildings and structures in West Palm Beach, Florida Gated communities in Florida