Urban Renewal Program Building Plans

Beginning in the 1950s, Clarksville was one of the first communities to carry out a modern federal urban renewal program. Areas deemed "slums" were acquired, cleared, and then redeveloped by private investors; consequently, residents living in these communities were displaced. The Riverview-Gallows Hollow area was the initial site of urban renewal in Clarksville. Approximately 60 acres of property along the Cumberland River were improved and then sold for redevelopment. An additional 214 acres were redeveloped in the Gallows Hollow Project. A final phase of the urban renewal project took place around Austin Peay State University in the late 1960s.

The Clarksville Housing Authority, although chartered in October 1941, remained inactive during World War II. In the post-war years, the agency took charge in providing safe and sanitary housing for low-to-moderate income families. From 1950 to 1951, 200 low-rent public housing units were developed for Clarksville residents. In 1957, an additional 100 units were completed in the wake of the Gallows Hollow Urban Renewal Project for disaplaced residents.

The original 200 public housing units were racially segregated. Lincoln Homes (134 units) served as public housing project for African Americans and was labeled as the "colored low-rental project" in the 1959 Community Progress Program Action Plan. Summit Heights, the "white low-rental project", consisted of 166 units. Photographs of the two housing projects (Lincoln Homes in the first image and Summit Heights in the second image) from the 1950s are shown.

From the late 1960s to early 1970s, the third urban reneal project in Clarksville took place in and adjacent to Austin Peay State University. This $5 million project, known as the College Avenue Urban Renewal Project, largely aimed to acquire land to allow for the growth of the campus.