Project: Atchison Village Defense Housing Project
Executive Director, Housing Authority of the City of Richmond: Harry A. Barbour
Architect: Carl I. Warnecke
Associate Architect: Andrew T. Hass
Assistant Technical Director & Chief Building Inspector: John C. Warnecke
Photographer: Gabriel Moulin
Year: 1941

World War ll turned Richmond, CA from a small town of about 23,000 into a boomtown! By the end of the war, Kaiser Shipyards had brought nearly 38,000 workers to Richmond via paid train trips, and another 60,000 came on their own. The need for housing was overwhelming and Richmond was literally bursting at the seams. By the end of 1943, Richmond had the largest public housing program in the nation! Atchison Village Defense Housing Project was one of three federally funded housing projects completed by the Richmond Housing Authority in 1941, and the only project funded by the Lanham Act remaining in Richmond. The property consists of 162 buildings comprising 450 dwelling units, a community building, and a 4-acre park.

The war housing projects hold a special place in Warnecke history. Carl I. Warnecke designed the projects, and the construction was supervised by John Carl Warnecke in his first job after graduating from Harvard.

This week a group of researchers from the Atchison Village History Project made a visit to our archives looking for more history and information about the Atchison Village Defense Housing Project. Now a cooperatively run community, the project is celebrating its 80th birthday this year!