Plunkett Town was a neighborhood in the southern part of the city of Atlanta, Georgia. It was located "south of Hapeville, Georgia city limits" and "adjacent to the airport and across the railroad tracks from industrial plants." [1] It housed low-income black Atlantans and was described as a slum.[2]
The community was described in 1969 as "1,800 black persons living in primitive rural conditions"- "incredibly dilapidated frame hovels" - with no sewers, paved streets, mail service, school buses, or running water - "alongside a modest but well-maintained white residential area".[3]
The Gilbert Cemetery, set aside for slaves in 1841 and the final resting place for up to 1700 people,[4] is located nearby. The Old South Motel and Dining Room (or Old South Motel and Liquor Store) was located here before the I-75 extension.
During the construction of the interchange, GDOT decided to erect a 7-foot statue of Jesus Christ (depicted as a white male). This led to a federal lawsuit for violation of separation of church and state as well as for the insensitivity to erect a "white Jesus" over a black cemetery.[5]
|
|||||||||||||||||