Sewer System – Atlanta GA

City:
Atlanta, GA

Site Type:
Sanitation and Water Disposal, Infrastructure and Utilities

New Deal Agencies:
Works Progress Administration (WPA), Public Works Funding, Work Relief Programs, Public Works Administration (PWA), Civil Works Administration (CWA), Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)

Started:
1934

Completed:
1937

Quality of Information:
Good

Site Survival:
Unknown

Description

Numerous New Deal agencies contributed to the development of metropolitan Atlanta’s sewer system during the Great Depression.

Atlanta initially applied for PWA funding in July 1933, but lack of local contribution caused the city government to withdraw the application and shift it to CWA in December 1933. CWA approved funds to modernize the metropolitan area sewer system, contingent on matching funds from city and county. in March 1934, FERA began work on new sewer lines, and in 1935, the project transferred to the WPA after the passing of a bond issue. Employment was estimated at 5,000 to 6,000 men. In 1936, approval of a joint PWA-WPA plan was approved and the Atlanta sewer system/disposal plants was the largest project in the South.

Source notes

Williams, G. (Aug. 4, 1935). F. D. R. Approval given sewer fund for Atlanta area. The Atlanta Constitution, p. 1. A $4,599,079 WPA allocation was approved to modernize the metropolitan Atlanta sewer system, to include construction of sanitary sewers and sewage disposal plants. The award was contingent on matching $1,000,000 from the city and $379, 139 from Fulton County.
"Modern Atlanta Sewer System Proceeding Rapidly." (Sep. 25, 1935). The Atlanta Constitution, p. 8.
"New sewer lines cost city $151,240: Drains laid this year total 17.24 miles; Agreement made with DeKalb." (Dec. 29, 1937). The Atlanta Constitution, p. 2.
Wright, G. The New Deal and the Modernization of the South. (2010). Federal History: Journal of the Society for History in the Federal Government, 2, 58-73. Retrieved from www.shfg.org/Federal-History.

Site originally submitted by Susan Allen on December 7, 2018.

Location Info


Atlanta, Georgia

Location notes: General location marker

Coordinates: 33.753, -84.365

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