EARLY URBAN RENEWAL IN ATLANTA The Urban Renewal program was first initiated as a federal policy that supplied grants and loans through Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to provide cities the funding for ‘slum clearance’ and the redevelopment of urban areas. 42 Despite being part of a national initiative, urban renewal was planned and implemented by local agencies. Yet, the idea of ‘slum clearance’ was not a new program for Atlanta. In the early 20th century, Edgewood’s Rose Hill community, a Black settlement established in 1870, underwent slum clearance and was entirely erased from the landscape by 1942, when Atlanta’s first slum clearance ordinance was passed by the Board of Aldermen. 43 Rose Hill was in the area that encompasses the playfields at Candler Park. In 1909, the white residents petitioned the Atlanta City Council to enter the city limits of Atlanta. By 1922, Asa Candler, a businessman (he owned Coca Cola), real estate developer, former Mayor of Atlanta, and philanthropist, he purchased land surrounding the Black district that included Evening Star lodge and residential spaces in the low lying areas, or ‘Bottom’. 44 45 The land lots of Black-owned properties were donated to the City of Atlanta by Asa Candler to use as a park and golf course for White patrons only. 46 Eventually, city leaders renamed "Edgewood" after Asa Candler, becoming "Candler Park." 47 The Black Edgewood community formed in a new area on the south side of the Georgia Railroad tracks and retained ‘Edgewood’ for the name of their community. 48 The narrative of Rose Hill was merely a premonition of what lay ahead for the neighborhoods in the Fourth Ward, from Baker Street in the south to North Avenue in the North, from Boulevard in the east, and Piedmont Avenue in the West. In the end, Butler Street and Buttermilk Bottom, like Rose Hill were demolished and redeveloped into an area that catered to the priorities established by the White political, economic, and civic leaders. The Slum Clearance and Fire Safety Ordinance of 1949, written by Councilperson John White, replaced a previous law declared unconstitutional by the State Supreme Court. 49 The Atlanta City Council voted to give power for ‘slum clearance’ to Mayor William Hartsfield and Henry H. Robinson, president of the Atlanta Real Estate Board. 50 The newly approved law revived the City’s program of inspections and requirements for property owners to repair and maintain 42 The Inclusive Historian’s Handbook, Urban Renewal, November 12, 2019. https://inclusivehistorian.com/urban - renewal/ 43 “ Remembering Rose Hill ’s African American Community,” The BiRacial History Project, https://biracialhistoryproject.org/rose-hill/. 44 “ Remembering Rose Hill” , The BiRacial History Project.
45 Kemp, Kathryn. "Asa Candler." New Georgia Encyclopedia, last modified Jun 27, 2023. https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/asa-candler-1851-1929/
46 “ Remembering Rose Hill” , The BiRacial History Project. 47 “Remembering Rose Hill ” , The BiRacial History Project. 48 “Remembering Rose Hill ” , The BiRacial History Project. 49 “Hartsfield Signs Slum. Clearance Act”, Atlanta Daily World. 50 “Plans Slum Clearance Project in Atlanta”, Atlanta Daily World.
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