November 12, 2011

Historic Northwoods ²

by Joseph Geierman • Midcentury Architecture

In Spring of 2012, a class from Georgia State University’s Heritage Preservation Program will be coming to Doraville: they will be embarking on a project to get the Northwoods neighborhood listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

This past Thursday (Nov 10, 2011), there was a meeting at the Doraville Civic Center to discuss the project and also answer questions about what being on the National Register means, and what it doesn’t mean. The answer to the most frequently asked question was that being listed will not restrict what homeowners do with their houses.  Here is what a flyer on the subject from the Historic Preservation Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources has to say on the subject:

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, we come to the even more interesting question: Why Northwoods? While those of us who live here realize it is special, the historic importance of the place may not be immediately apparent. The “Ranch House Evaluation” document (also available on the Georgia DNR website) has a pretty good explanation for why Northwoods is unique and historic:

Walter Talley’s Northwoods subdivision, located near the General Motors Assembly Plant in north DeKalb County, is the only currently identified California- style planned tract community located in the state. Construction began on the 250-acre site in 1950 and continued over a few years. When completed, the community contained approximately 700 Contemporary-style Ranches and Split Level houses and two parks. Northwoods greatly resembles a typical Ranch subdivision with its curvilinear street pattern, rolling topography, and wooded lots. A school, Methodist church, and shopping center were also built as part of the development and located on the southern and western peripheries of the site.

You can probably tell that I’m excited about this project. I’d also like to thank Rebecca Crawford, who has really taken the lead in recognizing Northwoods’ “specialness” for the last several years. Rebecca has actually written a great piece called The Ranch House in DeKalb County in which Northwoods plays a fairly large role. The article is worth reading for anyone interested in the history of the Northwoods neighborhood.

If you’d like to help the effort to get Northwoods listed as a historic place, you may contact Richard Laub (Director of the GSU program that will be doing the research). I know that he is very interested to hear from people who lived in the neighborhood during the 50s, and also in seeing pictures, house plans, and other items from the area’s early-years. There will probably be more updates once they get started with the actual work in February.  I can’t wait!

November 8, 2011

Northwoods Meeting: Historic Neighborhood ⁰

by Joseph Geierman • Midcentury Architecture

One of the many things I like about living in Doraville is the architecture in my neighborhood (Northwoods) – I’m surrounded by cute, affordable, mid-century modern ranch houses.

Northwoods was one of the first large-scale ranch-house tracts that was built in Georgia after World War II.  Rebecca Crawford, who attended the GSU Master of Heritage Preservation program, did a lot of work (with her class) researching our neighborhood’s history for a project that ended up detailing the story of ranch houses in Dekalb county – definitely a worthwhile read.

She has let us know that a new GSU class wants to participate in a meeting with residents of Northwoods and discuss the possibility of getting our neighborhood into the national registry of historic places.  I think it’s a fascinating project and could bring some attention to one of the great positives of this area.  If interested, the meeting will be this Thursday, November 10 at 7pm at the Doraville Civic Center.

Here’s a letter from Rebecca detailing the project:

Hello Northwoods Neighborhood!

My name is Rebecca Crawford, and I am an alumni of Georgia State University’s Master of Heritage Preservation Program. While I was still in graduate school, our class visited the Northwoods neighborhood in hopes of being able to begin to document it for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Our class ended up developing a historic context of housing in DeKalb County instead, but a new generation of students would like to take on the Northwoods National Register Nomination this Spring.

In order to document and create a National Register nomination for a community such as Northwoods, the GSU class will need your blessing and support. Please respond to this message and let me know if this is something that the neighborhood would be interested in. If so, it would be helpful for the Director of the Heritage Preservation Program, Richard Laub, to attend a neighborhood meeting to discuss the National Register process and what it would mean to the residents.

To find out more information about what the National Register is, please visit http://www.nps.gov/nr/national_register_fundamentals.htm#results

Thank you so much, and we look forward to working in Northwoods again this next Spring.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Crawford

December 8, 2009

Northwoods History Project – Wednesday Dec 9 ⁰

by Joseph Geierman • Midcentury Architecture

A few months ago, I had an e-mail exchange with Rebecca Crawford — a graduate student at Georgia State University who is doing a research project on Doraville’s Northwoods neighborhood. She is looking at the neighborhood as a good example of the ranch-house communities that sprang up around the country after World War II.

The exciting thing is that she, along with the Dekalb History Center, will be discussing the project on Wednesday night at the Civic Center. Unfortunately, I have another function I need to go to, but I think that this meeting will be very interesting to any residents of our neighborhood. It’s also a way to get important history about our city told! Be sure to publicize this event to long-term residents – encourage them to bring pictures and news articles from the neighborhood’s history!

Here is what the press release says:

The DeKalb History Center is holding a meeting to discuss the history of the Northwoods community.

The History Center is studying Northwoods as part of a Ranch House Initiative program in which select ranch house communities and post war development in DeKalb County are researched.

DeKalb History Center staff will discuss the project and their findings to date and welcome input from community members.

All residents are encouraged to attend and share their Northwoods history. Please bring any photos or artifacts relating to the development of Northwoods you would like to share with the History Center.

The meeting will be held:
Wednesday, December 9
6 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Doraville Civic Center
3770 Central Avenue, Doraville GA 30340