A renaming ceremony is on tap for today in Athens: the stretch of South Finley Street between Cloverhurst and Baxter Street will become Linnentown Lane. The ceremony that starts at 10 this morning commemorates the Linnentown neighborhood that was upended by University of Georgia expansion that took place in the 1960s.
From the Athens-Clarke Co government website…
The ACCGov Inclusion Office and the Athens Justice & Memory Project invite residents to a special event that celebrates a historic moment in Athens-Clarke County to honor the legacy of the Linnentown community by renaming a portion of South Finley Street between Cloverhurst & Baxter to Linnentown Lane.
Thursday, September 21, 2023 10:00 AM – Noon South Finley Street between Cloverhurst & Baxter
Shuttle service will be provided to/from the Lyndon House for parking every 20 minutes starting at 9:00 AM
The Athens Justice and Memory Project is the first resident-led effort focused on addressing the history and impact of urban renewal in Athens-Clarke County.
Mayor Kelly Girtz charged the Athens Justice and Memory Project with “Work[ing] with Linnentown residents, historians, economists and other stakeholders to atone for the removal of the Linnentown neighborhood for the benefit of those residents and their descendants, while providing a model process for coming projects with other residents whose neighborhoods were removed and destroyed, or whose lives were diminished in quality through the efforts of the Athens-Clarke County Unified Government, or its predecessors, the City of Athens and Clarke County.”