Flashback Photos: A look back at Bankhead Courts

Flashback Photos

Flashback Photos: A look back at Bankhead Courts

PHOTOS: In October 1974, Atlanta's new mayor spent a weekend staying in public housing. A year later, the Journal returned to see what, if anything, had changed after his visit.

In October 1974, newly-elected Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson spent a much-publicized weekend staying at the Bankhead Courts public housing complex on the city's westside. HUGH STOVALL / AJC PHOTO ARCHIVES

Nov. 1975 -- Workers departed Bankhead Courts and left these apartment steps hanging above the ground. 'They didn't say nothing about whether they were coming back," one man told the Journal at the time. BILLY DOWNS / AJC PHOTO ARCHIVES

1974 -- Bankhead Courts as it appeared prior to Mayor Jackson's weekend stay. CHARLES PUGH / AJC PHOTO ARCHIVES

Jan. 1974 -- Maynard Jackson is sworn in as mayor by Judge Luther Alverson. In Oct. of that year, he spent a weekend staying at Bankhead Courts, telling the Journal, "“Bankhead Courts is saying something to Atlanta, It is saying that the conditions under which they live are not acceptable." CHUCK VOLLERTSON / AJC PHOTO ARCHIVES

2011 -- Crews demolish what used to be Bankhead Courts in Atlanta, a housing project near the boundary line of Fulton and Cobb counties. The Atlanta Housing Authority has been demolishing the city's housing projects one by one and seeking to replace them with mixed-income developments.

Crime was such a problem in Bankhead Courts in the late 1980s that MARTA briefly stopped bus service and postal carriers suspended mail delivery for a few days. ELISSA EUBANKS / AJC FILE

A blue tarp blows in the wind from the upper level of Bankhead Courts. The housing project was often a battleground between drug dealers who terrorized tenants and community leaders who tried to fight back with anti-crime initiatives such as "midnight basketball." ELISSA EUBANKS / AJC FILE

2011 -- An oven sits in a vacant unit in Bankhead Courts. The 386-unit housing project opened in 1971. ELISSA EUBANKS / AJC FILE

Housing authority chief Renee Glover led the demolition effort, which was intended to reduce the concentration of poverty. Residents of demolished developments got vouchers to cut the cost of rent and utilities in their new homes. ELISSA EUBANKS / AJC FILE

The housing authority in July 2008 got approval from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to demolish Thomasville Heights, Bankhead Courts, Herndon Homes and Hollywood Courts, for a total of more than 1,200 apartments.. ELISSA EUBANKS / AJC FILE

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In October 1974, newly-elected Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson spent a much-publicized weekend staying at the Bankhead Courts public housing complex on the city's westside. HUGH STOVALL / AJC PHOTO ARCHIVES