Lakewood Heights is a historic neighborhood established in the late 19th century. It experienced significant growth in the 1920s and 1930s as both an industrial and residential area. Originally, it was a predominantly

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

working-class community but gradually changed to a predominately African American working-class community. However, as of the 2010s, the neighborhood is again undergoing notable changes. Gentrification has increased diversity and rising demand have positively transformed the area, driven by new developments along the nearby Atlanta Beltline and

Downtown Atlanta Downtown Atlanta is the central business district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The largest of the city's three commercial districts (Midtown Atlanta, Midtown and Buckhead being the others), it is the location of many corporate and region ...

. For many years before this revitalization, Lakewood Heights struggled with high vacancy rates and low home sales. It is bounded by: * the Betmar LaVilla, the Villages at Carver, and South Atlanta neighborhoods on the north, * the Chosewood Park neighborhood on the northeast, * the Norwood Manor neighborhood on the southeast, * the Polar Rock, Swallow Circle/Baywood and Lakewood 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 Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

History

Factors leading to development

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

streetcar line A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include segment ...

along Jonesboro Road, which enabled commercial and residential development along the corridor * Parallel to that, development of an industrial area including the

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

Lakewood Assembly Lakewood Assembly was a General Motors automobile factory in Lakewood Heights, Atlanta, Georgia. Opened in 1927, the plant was the first that the UAW staged a strike against, in 1936. Initially, Lakewood was referred to as 'Atlanta' and coded as ...

plant * Development of a black neighborhood around the

Gammon Theological Seminary The Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) is a consortium of five predominantly African-American denominational Christian seminaries in Atlanta, Georgia, operating together as a professional graduate school of theology. It is the largest ...

and

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

, 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

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 Techwood Homes was an early public housing project in the Atlanta, Georgia in the United States, opened just before the First Houses. The whites-only Techwood Homes replaced an integrated settlement of low-income people known as Tanyard Bot ...

organizer Charles Forrest Palmer, President

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

, first lady

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...

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 the major role in designing and financing the New Deal. After 1937, whil ...

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 Independent agencies of the United States government, United States government agency founded by Pr ...

—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 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 sanction ...

. Now the Cellairis Amphitheatre at Lakewood is located on the old fairgrounds. Around 1970 the area began to decline as middle-class families moved away because blue-collar jobs in the neighborhood were slowly disappearing. 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 that owns and operates facilities in Miami, Florida. The company collaborates with other studios and producers for the development, production, marketing, and distribution of enterta ...

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

* Cellairis Amphitheatre at Lakewood * South Bend Park (76.6 acres) * John C. Burdine Center (4.27 acres) * Oak Knoll Parks 1 and 2 * South View Cemetery Association * Swann Nature Preserve

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