Editing Trussville, Alabama (section)

=== Cahaba Project ===
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Much of Trussville's growth and development came from the Cahaba Project, a planned development of over 250 homes constructed by Franklin D. Roosevelt's [[Resettlement Administration|Government Resettlement Administration]] during the 1930s. The Cahaba Project was originally planned by staff at the [[Alabama Polytechnic Institute]] to be a rural community of small farmsteads raising potatoes and vegetables. By the middle of the decade it was decided to locate the community close enough to [[Birmingham, Alabama|Birmingham]] to commute by public transit, so the site in Trussville was chosen. About 60 existing houses were demolished, with white residents moved to the Roper Hill community and cottages for African-Americans built on a 40-acre tract northwest of the Cahaba Project called "Washington Heights" or, more commonly, "The Forties".{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}

Local landscape architect W. H. Kestler designed a relatively dense suburban layout with 400 houses on 1/2 to 3/4 acre lots encircling a central green space called "The Mall". The design was approved in 1936 and constructed over the following two years. In all, 243 single-family houses and 44 duplexes were constructed at a total cost of $2,661,981.26. They were rented to approved lower-middle-income families for $14-$23 per month. The village featured paved streets, sidewalks and landscaped park areas. An entrance gateway with a covered gazebo was built at the corner of Main Street and Parkway Drive to serve as the community's "front door".{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}

Most of the one- and two-level homes were constructed in the American four-square style with brick and wood siding, pine floors and metal roofs. Each house had electricity, hot-and-cold running water, and a sewer connection. Two oak saplings were given to each household to beautify their yards. During World War II many families planted Victory Gardens to supplement their grocery rations.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}

Oak furnishings and appliances were also available to renters at a nominal cost from the government. A back porch was supplied with a hose for a wringer-type washer. A communal washer was also available in a separate building on the mall. Other community facilities included a swimming pool, an [[Hewitt-Trussville Middle School|elementary school]] and a [[Hewitt-Trussville High School|high school]], all built near the mall. A co-op store was erected near the high school, serving as a general store and lending library. Several churches were founded, including the Holy Infant of Prague Catholic Church.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}

The Cahaba Association, the Village residents' organization, elected community leaders, raised funds for civic projects, and published the ''Cahaba Hub'' newspaper. Many residents participated in an amateur softball league which made use of a lighted field on the mall. Resentment over the privileges given to residents of the government-funded Cahaba Project resulted in tensions between them and the "Old Trussville" families, many of whom lacked electricity and indoor plumbing. The presence of so many community facilities within the project limited interactions between the project's residents and their neighbors.

After World War II the government made plans to sell the houses to residents. It also offered undeveloped parcels for sale, giving veterans the first option at 10 percent down. The Cahaba Project was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 2002.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}