Homes Exclusively for GIs

by Dale Wayne Slusser – January 2026

The urgent need for more housing for veterans returning home at the close of World War II was both a national and local crisis.  In February of 1946, President Harry Truman gained bipartisan approval from Congress for what was touted as the “greatest house-building program in history”,[1] to build 2, 700,000 houses in two years, giving returning veterans priority.  To achieve their goal, the government called for increased production of building materials and increased training and recruitment for workers in the housing field.[2]  The new program also promised more government subsidies for housing and for the government to “stimulate the new pre-fabricated housing industry”.[3]  The actual building of these houses mostly played out in local governments through private enterprises.  A recent inquiry has brought to our attention a little-known story of two local attempts to provide this urgent housing need for the influx of veterans returning to Asheville and Buncombe County.  In conjunction with the newly enacted Federal housing programs, here in Asheville several local private corporations were formed in 1946 to meet the challenge, including the Atlas Home Construction Company and the Asheville American Legion Housing Corporation.

Atlas Home Construction Company

Harold Goldbloom, born and raised in Minnesota, arrived in Asheville in 1938 from Los Angeles, CA.  Goldbloom was a salesman/businessman, who upon arrival to Asheville, immediately became involved in two different business ventures: Smoke Mount Industries and Atlas Home Improvement Company[4].  Goldbloom became partner and vice-president of Smoke Mount Industries, a dress manufacturing company started in Asheville by Julius Lowenbein.  At the same time, Harold Goldbloom also started his own business, Atlas Home Improvement Company, a franchise roofing and siding company affiliated with Johns-Manville manufacturers of roofing, siding, insulation and related home improvement products.

After the United States had entered World War II, all building materials were needed for defense purposes, which combined with the loss of men to the draft, forced Goldbloom to shut down his Atlas Home Improvement Company.  Smoke Mount Industries continued in operation during the war, however, due to a devastating fire in 1943, they had to relocate from their Biltmore Avenue location to leased facilities at 217 Coxe Avenue.[5]

By 1946, the War had ended and local manufacturers, no longer required to give federal government and military vendors priority, were getting back to their pre-war manufacturing.  Harold Goldbloom, in February of 1946, upon the announcement of President Truman’s proposed new housing program, decided to reactivate his pre-war Atlas Home Improvement Company.  However, instead of operating it as a roofing and siding business, Atlas Home Improvement Company was re-established as a general contractor, with the purpose of building low-cost homes for returning GIs.  Atlas Home Improvement made its first property purchase in February of 1946, buying five lots at the intersection of Park Lane Avenue and Sand Hill School Road, in Sand Hill Estates (a 1944 development by S. M. White).[6]

“WE ARE BUILDING homes exclusively for GIs on government priority”,[7] announced the Atlas Home Improvement Company, in an April 28, 1946 advertisement in the local newspaper.  The advertisement further announced that: “see sample home nearing construction of Sand Hill School road off Sand Hill road. $6,000. Contracts will also be taken for additional homes.”[8]

In September of 1946, Goldboom and Atlas Home Improvement sold their first house (their sample house), at the northeast corner of Park Lane Avenue and Sand Hill School Road (33 Sand Hill School Road), to Beach and Blanche Keller.  In the deed to the property is a statement that explains what it meant to construct a house on “government priority”:

“The building on the premises hereby conveyed was built under Priorities Regulation 33 (Builder’s Serial No. 6053-1066).  Under its regulation a limit is placed on either the sales price or the rent for the premises or both and preferences are given to veterans of World War II or members of the Armed Forces in selling or renting.”[9]  According to an accompanying deed of trust, the Kellers paid $6,500 for the property-probably $6,000 for the house and $500 to cover the lot costs.[10]

In November 1946, the Atlas Home Improvement Company made its second property purchase of two lots on East Street in the Oakley neighborhood.[11]  Purchased under the name of Harold Goldbloom (DBA Atlas Home Improvement Company), the lot was purchased from Clegg C. Connell.  Connell, a young veteran, had purchased the lot from his mother-in-law, who lived next door at 76 East Street.  Goldbloom built a brick house on the Clegg Connell lot (72 East Street) for $7,500.[12]   Goldbloom apparently financed the Connell home, as he held title to the lots and house until finally selling the house and lots to Connell in 1949, allowing Connell to assume the balance remaining of the original deed of trust.[13]

In February of 1947, Goldbloom chose to reorganize and re-incorporate the Atlas Home Improvement Company as the Atlas Home Construction Company, with Harold & Ruth Goldbloom and son A. Stanton Goldbloom as the principal shareholders.[14]   Just prior to forming the new company, Harold & Ruth Goldbloom had purchased four lots in the Edgewood neighborhood of North Asheville, under their own names.[15]  Upon incorporation of the new company the Goldbloom’s transferred their ownership of the Edgewood and Sand Hill lots to the Atlas Home Construction Company.[16]

As Harold Goldbloom and the Atlas Home Construction Company were buying properties for its proposed houses for GIs, they were having local architects design and prepare the architectural drawings for the new houses.  Harold Goldbloom first hired architect Henry Irven Gaines (his offices were at 82 Wall Street) to design a prototypical house to be built, according to the two plot plans on a March 1, 1947 drawing[17], on Lot 23 in Edgewood and on Lots 70 and 71 in Sandhill Estates.  However, on a copy of the same drawing, the plot plan for the two Gaines’ houses on Sandhill Hill School Road was crossed over and marked “VOID”.  And so only one of these houses was actually built by Atlas Home Construction Company on Lot 23 in Edgewood Park (now addressed as 23 Laurel Avenue), and even was built in reverse plan from shown on the drawings.  The frame house was built on a full basement and was sided in asbestos shingles.  The company pulled a permit to build this house (to cost $8, 250) on April 11, 1947.[18]

However, soon after the Gaines’ drawings were completed and construction had begun on the house at 23 Laurel Avenue, Goldbloom chose another architect, Anthony Lord to design his subsequent house projects for the Atlas Home Construction Company.   Lord finished the first of his drawings on April 22, 1947, on a design for two- houses.  The April 22nd drawings show the floor plans and exterior elevations for a small two-bedroom house that was under 800 square feet.  Designated as “Type B”, this wood-frame house was designed to be clad in brick veneer, with a full-basement.[19]  As shown on the plot plan in Lord’s drawings, this “Type B” house was built at 25 Laurel Avenue, in Edgewood Park.  The third sheet in this set of Anthony Lord drawings, though dated four days later (April 26, 1947)[20], show the floor plans and exterior elevations for a “Type A” house, which although also just a two-bedroom one bath home was designed to be slightly larger at almost 900 square feet.  This “Type A” house was designed as a wood-frame house with a full basement, similar to “Type B”, except that it was clad in asbestos siding.  As shown on the plot plat on Sheet 1, this “Type A” house was built at 27 Laurel Avenue, next door to the “Type B” house.

In May of 1947, Lord completed drawings for two additional houses to be built by the Atlas Home Construction Company, on Barnard Avenue in Edgewood Park.  The houses were duplicate plans of the Laurel Avenue houses, “Type A” and “Type B”.  A brick-veneer “Type A” house was built on Lot 49 (111 Barnard Avenue) and an asbestos-shingle clad house “Type B” was built next door on Lot 50 (115 Barnard Avenue).

In June of 1947, Anthony Lord’s firm completed drawings for four additional houses for the Atlas Home Construction Company.[21]  Similar to Lord’s designs for his earlier houses in Edgewood Park, these four houses, designed as two types, though similar in plan, having two-bedrooms and one bath, were designed to be more compact. The Type ‘A’ floor plan comes in at just over 740 square feet, and the Type ‘B’ at just 675 square feet.  The four houses were wood-frame construction, but houses labeled with a ‘1’ were brick veneer and those labeled ‘2’ were clad in asbestos shingle-siding.  The plot plan showed these four houses to be built at the intersection of Sand Hill School Road and Park Lane Avenue.  Two houses (B-1 and ‘B-2’), were built on Lot 47, and house ‘A-1’ was built on lot 72, and house ‘A-2’ on lot 73.  Although these houses have been altered, they remain on their respective lots at 12 Park Lane Avenue (B-1), 37 Sand Hill School Road (B-2), 27 Sand Hill School Road (A-1), and 25 Sand Hill School Road (A-2).

Atlas Home Construction Company’s foray into building houses for GIs was not very successful and short-lived.  By 1948, only a few of their houses had been purchased, and so coupled with the change in low-financing for GIs buying houses, the Company was suspended on February 2, 1948.[22]  The remaining unsold houses (which was the majority of houses built by the company) were subsequently sold on assumption, with each homeowner assuming the respective existing mortgages.[23]  A business partner, L. H. Pollock purchased three of the finished but unsold houses in one deed transfer.[24]

Asheville American Legion Housing Corporation

While Goldbloom was trying to build affordable houses for GIs, another entity, the American Legion, was attempting to do the same thing, but on a larger scale and with infinitely more success.  On February 6, 1946, James H. Hemsley, a local realtor and head of the housing committee of Asheville’s American Legion Post 2, made the first of numerous appeals “urging persons who have rooms or apartments to allow veterans, with wives and children, to occupy them at least temporarily”.[25]  A few weeks later, Hensley makes another appeal in the form of an advertisement/announcement: “If you have a room, apartment, or house for rent, furnished or unfurnished, or if you know where one might be had, please call my office.  Any of these properties that are rented to GI’s there will be no commission charge to the property owner, as I am rendering this service, being chairman of the American Legion Housing Committee.”[26]

As Hensley was making his appeals for housing for returning GIs, Asheville’s American Legion Post 2 had formed a “housing committee”, looking into a possible solution for the problem.  Chairman of the committee James Hensley announced on February 20, 1946 that despite a good response to their appeals, that there were still 250 applications pending for housing for veterans in Asheville and Buncombe County.[27]  Then on February 27^th, it was announced that the American Legion’s housing committee had authorized the formation of a non-profit corporation to bring in and erect prefabricated houses for veterans, to help relieve Asheville’s housing shortage.[28]  The Legion’s plan was that the corporation would first bring in and erect 5 houses, and “if proved satisfactory”[29] they would bring in an additional 195 houses.  It was further announced that the houses would “be setup and offered for sale at cost price plus the price of the lot to veterans of World War II.”[30]

The “Asheville American Legion Housing Corporation” was officially formed and registered the following day (February 28, 1946).[31]  A little over a week later, it was announced that Gene Ochsenreiter was named President of the Asheville American Legion Housing Corporation, with the following serving as officers of the corporation: R. R. Williams, Vice-President; James H. Hensley, Secretary, and Irwin Monk, treasurer.[32]

The Asheville American Legion Housing Corporation subsequently signed a contract with the Federal Public Housing Authority to purchase 200 prefabricated houses from the Authority and erect the houses to be sold to local qualified veterans.  Although the houses were pre-fabricated, they were not manufactured specifically for the Asheville American Legion Housing Corporation, instead they had originally been prefabricated in the early 1940’s and erected as temporary housing for defense workers on military bases along the eastern seaboard.  The Asheville American Legion Housing Corporation, announced that the houses were coming from Norfolk, Virginia.

The first five houses arrived in Asheville in April of 1946.[33]  The first house was erected, technically “re-erected”

on a new foundation on a lot on McDowell Street in downtown Asheville.  Although assigned to a veteran, this first house, when completed, opened as a “model house” on May 12 1946.[34]  It was reported the following day that “between five and six thousand” people had toured the open house on it first day.[35] The model house was built on a lot along McDowell Street “between Choctaw street and the Victoria Road viaduct”.  The actual negotiations for bringing the houses to Asheville, and the details of erecting, financing, and delivering them were being handled by three local realtors, R. Fred Gray, Roy P. Booth and Arthur A. York.  Allocation of the houses was being made by a committee appointed by the Legion housing corporation to process and approve the submitted applications.  It was announced by the Legion committee that the turnkey purchase price would be under $4,000 and financed through GI loans.  Willie N. Sartor, a negro veteran, would be the owner of model house on McDowell Street (135 McDowell St.). The other four houses (of these first five), it was reported, had been allocated as follows: Pine Street house to Howard Maney (608 Marietta Street); Sulphur Springs house to Frank Killian (160 Sulphur Springs Rd.); Trotter Place house to George Yarborough (65 Trotter Place); and Grovemont house to J. W. Faucette, Jr. (215 Stonewall Avenue).  Each house was reported to have “two bedrooms, a bathroom complete with fixtures and built in tub, a kitchenette with coal range furnished, a dinette, and a livingroom.-Heat is furnished by a central coal heater.”-[36]

As the Legion began to bring in more houses, they encountered a bureaucratic roadblock.  On June 1, 1946 it was reported that the Legion had asked attorney R. R. Williams along with the assistance of Sen. Clyde R. Hoey, to aid in “seeking a simplification of regulations in regard to priorities for materials to be used in connection with the erection of pre-fabricated houses for veterans.”[37]  Williams reported that, “under the current regulations it is necessary to apply for a separate priority permit for each of the 200 houses, giving the location and the person purchasing the house.”[38]  As it is not feasible always, reports Williams, to know where the houses are going before they arrive, the Legion is “asking for a blanket priority that will assist in expediting the program just as the Federal government is attempting to expedite the housing program in general”.[39]  One month later, on July 2^nd, a three-man committee, composed of City manager Pat Burdette, Gene Ochsereiter (head of the Asheville American Legion Corporation), and attorney R. R. Williams headed for Washington, DC to confer with Federal Housing Expediter, Wilson Wyatt, on problems confronting the American Legion housing program.[40]

On August 21, 1946, the Legion Housing Corporation called a meeting to explain to the veterans who had applied for houses the reason for the delay.  It was reported that the 195 houses were being “held in Atlanta”[41], which I suspect meant that they were being held up by red tape in the Atlanta offices of the Federal Public Housing Authority.  However, on August 29^th, the Legion announced that a new plan had been approved by the Federal Public Housing Authority, that their housing program “is ready to roll again”.[42]  In fact it announced 12 houses were already on the way to Asheville, as Robinson Bros. Construction Company had been hired to “dismantle the units in Norfolk and erect them here”.[43]  The overall plan, it was reported, was to erect 200 houses at two per week by 1948.

The newly approved plan, worked out by the American Legion Housing Corporation, was that the two local contractors (Robinson Brothers and Merchant Company) would finance the purchase and erection of the houses, until a “permanent loan is worked out” by the veteran/buyer.  When the Federal Public Housing Authority approved the new plan, it allowed the non-profit corporation to make a five percent charge for financing, with three of the five percent going to the contractor for financing the building until a permanent GI loan is made, and the two percent remaining will be applied on the corporation’s overhead.”[44]

By the beginning of October 1946, American Legion Housing Corporation’s James Hensley announced that they were “now accepting additional applications from veterans for prefabricated houses”,  and that “arrangements have been made through local banks and finance companies to make loans for both lots and houses”.[45]  It was further announced that already 42 pre-fabricated houses have been built, under construction, or on their way from Norfolk.[46]  By the end of October, the American Legion Corporation announced that 67 houses were now under construction (re-erection) in the city.  The corporation further announced that their contract with the Federal Public Housing Authority required them to erect and sell 25 houses per month to veterans.[47]  The prefabricated houses were described as having: “four rooms, including a combination kitchen and dining room, six closets, built-in kitchen cabinets, a coal range, a heater, hardwood floors, a 25-year roof, window shades, window blinds, and a flower box”.[48]

It was reported that the houses being “brought in” by the Legion were coming from Norfolk, Virginia, however, more specifically, they were coming from Alexander Park, a huge temporary housing development built for World War II defense workers in Portsmouth, Virginia, just across the river from Norfolk.  Alexander Park was opened in 1942 as part of the “Federal Security Administration’s vast Victory Village demountable housing project.”[49]  The 4,250 prefabricated houses in this “temporary village” were manufactured by Barrett & Hilp, of San Francico, CA.[50]  Barrett & Hilp began erecting the houses at Portsmouth in May of 1942,[51] and they were all completed by November of 1942.  A distinctive feature of the houses, besides the fact that they were prefabricated, was that they were clad in unpainted cedar siding.

The story of the building of these unique houses is both fascinating, and a historically significant chapter in the US housing industry.  In order to house the massive and rapid influx of defense workers needed at the Norfolk Navy Yard at the start of World War II, the federal government sought out innovative contractors who could meet the demand through mass-production.  They first hired the now famous Levitt & Sons, who would later become the post-war leader in mass-produced housing.  Levitt was commissioned to build 2,350 homes in 18 months for Navy personnel at the Norfolk shipyard.[52]  However, the demand for housing for the thousands of factory workers, shipbuilders, and servicemen needed at Norfolk/Portsmouth was so intense that more than one contractor was required.  In steps Barrett and Hilp contractors of San Francisco, signed a contract with the Federal Government, in 1942, to build 5,000 houses in five months (154 days).  This feat was only accomplished by Barrett and Hilp in cooperation with the Homasote Company.  Homasote is a fiberboard made from wood pulp, newspaper, and resin, which was originally developed by the Homasote Company in 1929 for car roofs under the name “Agasote”. Later the company developed a wallboard product for use in buildings.  In trying to find new markets for this new wallboard, the company developed a prefabricated building system, named “Precision Built”. The system was a stressed skin wall panel system, consisting of 2×2 wall studs with a layer of Homasote on either side.[53] The wall and floor panels were then bolted together at their corners and junctions, making the houses easy to erect and assemble on-site, and also making them “demountable”.  These houses were designed by architects Harland Bartholomew and Associates.  The architects’ design was given to the Homasote Company to manufacture as prefabricated panels, roof and floor systems.

In order to expedite the building of the 5,000 houses, and cut costs for transport and delivery, Barrett and Hilp set up their own factory on-site in an abandoned fertilizer plant.  In an arrangement with the Homasote Company, akin to a franchise, the Barrett and Hilp “factory” used the same Homasote Company’s materials and its mass-production “Precision-Built” building system as used in the Homasote’s main factory in Trenton, NJ.  The timeline for production required the production of sixty houses a day, however, the system was so efficient that Barrett and Hilp were able to build eighty houses a day![54]

After the war, in 1946, the Federal Public Housing Authority sold off many of the Alexander Park houses to out-of-state groups (like the Asheville American Legion Corporation) to be relocated and reused as post-war housing.  It was reported that some of the houses were relocated to Howard University in Washington, DC as housing for veterans, and that others were going to cities such as Asheville, Reidville, and Leakesville in North Carolina.[55]  Some of the houses of Alexander Park remained on-site and were used as post-war housing.  In 1956, a wealthy man purchased the entire Alexander Park and turned the houses into low-income rental units.  All the remaining Homasote-houses in Alexander Park were ultimately demolished in 2002.[56]

In November of 1946, as the Asheville American Legion Corporation continued to bring in more houses for veterans in Asheville and Buncombe County, it was announced that the corporation would also be bringing in houses for veterans in the surrounding counties.  In Hendersonville, in nearby Henderson County, a group of concerned citizens formed their own non-profit organization called “Prefabricated Houses, Inc.”.  This new organization announced that they would be building houses for veterans, and that the houses would be coming “from the Federal Public Housing Authority through the American Legion Housing Corporation of Asheville”.[57]  They further announced that the Henderson County houses will be “the same type as those being erected in Asheville and Brevard.  They were formerly used by defense workers, and will be dismantled and brought here by trucks.[58]  Speaking of Brevard, a small group of the Alexander Park houses were also brought to Brevard, in Transylvania County.  In fact, in December of 1946, the Brevard Town Council approved the opening of a new street, to be named Robinson Avenue, on which “several GI’s have agreed to erect prefabricated houses on one side of the street”.[59]

In March of 1947, the Asheville American Legion Housing Corporation announced that it had not only fulfilled its contract to bring in 200 houses for veterans, but that it had in fact already brought in and erected 210 houses, with the soon arrival of 40 more.[60]  A few weeks later the American Legion Housing Corporation announced that it has obtained an additional thirty pre-fabricated houses for this area, bringing the total number of houses brought in to 280.[61]  “The last lot of houses,” further reported the American Legion, “was obtained at Charleston, S. C. and are of different design from the original 250.”[62]  In June, after twenty of the Charleston houses had arrived, the American Legion reported that two of these houses had already been erected, and that these “houses will be furnished with asbestos shingle siding.”[63]

One of these first two prefabricated houses obtained from Charleston was erected at 4 Laurel Avenue, in North Asheville, for veteran Hampton A. Guthrie.  Guthrie, a Madison County native, had served in the Army from September 1941 until the end of the war.  He served mostly in Hawaii where he had been sent shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor (December 1941).[64]  Guthrie apparently had been on the list to purchase an American Legion house before the Charleston houses had arrived, as he had purchased his lot in February of 1947.[65]  In May 1947 Guthrie obtained a permit to erect a “four room prefabricated residence” on Laurel Avenue, to cost $3,500. [66]  Besides the asbestos shingle siding, these Charleston houses were identifiable from the Norfolk houses in that they had a centered entrance door flanked on each side by double paired sash windows.

So, specifically where did the Charleston houses come from?  Most likely they came from the “Liberty Homes” wartime “temporary housing” development built during 1942-1943.  In 1942, the Federal Works Agency began the “Liberty Homes” project in North Charleston to house the rapid influx of defense workers serving the Charleston Navy Yard.  The project called for the erection of 2,000 demountable houses.  The contract to build the houses was given to three contractors.  Green Lumber of Laurel, Mississippi was to build 1,120 of the houses, Henry C. Beck Company of Atlanta, GA and Dallas, TX to build 500 units, and Skinner & Ruddock of Charleston were contracted to build 380 units.[67]  The houses built by the three contractors were similar but differentiated by the exterior cladding: the 1,120 built by Green Lumber Company were clad in wooden clapboards, the Henry C. Beck’s 500 houses were clad in wood shingles, and the Skinner & Ruck houses were clad in asbestos shingle siding.[68]  One of the differences of the Charleston demountable houses from the Norfolk houses, is that they used Upson board for the wall panels (instead of Homasote), and the panels/sections of the Charleston houses were connected with metal straps secured with double-headed nails.  The nails would be driven in up to the first nail head, leaving the second head exposed to be used for “demounting” the panels.[69]

In 1942-1943, 2,000 demountable houses were erected at the Liberty Homes project in North Charleston, SC to house defense workers.

Although the Guthrie house at 4 Laurel Avenue, which has asbestos shingle siding, was no doubt one of the demountable houses built by Skinner & Ruddock at Charleston, apparently not all of the Charleston houses brought to Asheville were Skinner & Ruddock-built houses.  For example, the house at 162 Chatham Road (next door to 4 Laurel Avenue), which was also brought in from the Liberty Homes development by the Asheville American Legion Housing Corporation, is of a slightly different design and is clad in wood clapboards.  I suspect that it was one of the demountable houses built by Green Lumber Company of Laurel, MS.

The house at 162 Chatham Road was it was one of the demountable houses, at Liberty Homes, built by Green Lumber Company of Laurel, MS.

Just as the Asheville American Legion Housing Corporation was bringing in the final thirty houses for veterans, Congress was enacting new fiscal policies that would be the death nell of the Legion’s housing program.  On July 1, 1947, the local newspaper announced that the Asheville American Legion Housing Corporation had “launched a move to reinstate the authority of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to buy GI paper mortgage from local lending agencies”.[70]  It was further reported that, “RFC’s authority in this field, expired today under terms of legislation approved by Congress late last night.”  Although Congress voted to extend the RFC for another, it canceled RFC’s permission to buy GI paper mortgage loans, which took away the incentive and security for local banks and lending institutions to write low-interest GI mortgages.  On July 23, 1947, it was reported that Twelfth District Rep Monroe M Redden, Senator William B. Umsted, and Senator Clyde Hoey would be backing a new bill put forth by Senator John J. Sparkman (D-Ala) to reinstate RFC’s authority to buy GI home mortgage paper.[71]  But, although the Senate passed Sparkman’s bill two days later, which would have allowed RFC to resume its purchase of GI home mortgage loans, the bill was not able to be passed by the House of Representatives during its current session, and so the bill was dropped.[72] A few months later, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Jr. publicly accused the national American Legion’s Housing Committee of being “stacked in favor of real estate interests”.[73]  By May of 1948 the Asheville American Legion announced that it had one prefabricated house remaining, to be sold to any qualified veteran.[74]

The work of the Atlas Home Construction Company, and the monumental work of the Asheville American Legion Housing Corporation to help relieve Asheville’s post-World War II housing crisis, cannot be understated.  Most all of the houses that both entities erected (over 300 houses built between 1946-1948), even the “temporary houses”, are still standing and occupied, and are now part of Asheville and Buncombe County’s historic housing stock, even after almost 85 years!

Note: I have a list of a number of these American Legion houses that still remain-if you suspect your house may be one, please contact PSABC….

Photo Credits: 

Note: All captions o photos by author.  Also, all photos not mentioned below were taken by the author.

American Legion Houses on Riverview Drive:– Asheville Times, April 21, 1947, p. 10.

Houses For GI’s:– Asheville Citizen-Times, April 28, 1946., p. 29.

Entrance Elevation Drawing: “A Residence for Harold Goldbloom”, Sheet #2, on Henry Irven Gaines title block, dated 3- 1- 47. -Image #SA1538.2, Buncombe County Special Collections, Pack Memorial Library, Asheville, NC.

West Elevation Drawing: “HOUSES FOR ATLAS HOME CONSTR. CO.”, Sheet #2, on “Anthony Lord, 17 ½ Church Street” title block, dated 4-22-47, 1947, Drawn by: W. E. B. -Image #SA1540.2, Buncombe County Special Collections, Pack Memorial Library, Asheville, NC.

“Attention” Advertisement: Asheville Citizen-Times, February 17, 1946, p. 29.

First American Legion house ready for erection: “FIRST GI-HOUSING UNIT ARRIVES”, Asheville Citizen-Times, April 20, 1946, p. 10.

First American Legion house completed: “Pre-fabricated House for Veteran Completed”, Asheville Citizen-Times, May 12, 1946, p. 17.

American Legion houses on Murdock Avenue: Asheville Times, December 17, 1946, p. 14.

56 Houses a Day: Architectural Record, Volume 92 No. 1, July 1942, p. 48.

Alexander Park houses at Norfolk, VA: Building and Engineering, Vol. 72 No. 439, March 24, 1944, p. 15. (Sydney, Australia).

Alexander Park houses erected on Robinson Avenue: Street View- Google Image: Capture March 2013 @ Google 2026.

Demountable Houses Under Construction at Liberty Homes, North Charleston, SC: “A House in Six Hours”, Scientific American, Volume 168, Issue 6, June 1943, p. 258.

[1] “BOWLES WINS FIGHT ON PRICE CONTROL – Congress to Back Program For 2,700,000 New Homes”, The Asheville Times, February 9, 1946, p. 1.

[2] Ibid.

[3] “TRUMAN PROPOSES BUILDING OF 2,700,000 HOMES”, Asheville Citizen-Times, February 9, 1946, p. 1.

[4] Miller’s Asheville (Buncombe County, N.C.) City Directory [1939], Hill Company- https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/24872?ln=en&v=pdf

[5] “STOCKS OF TWO BUSINESS FIRMS ARE DESTROYED”, Asheville Times, July 8, 1943, p. 1.

[6] 02/23/1946 S. M. White to Atlas Home Improvement Company LOWER HOMINY TS  (Lots 47, 70, 71, 72 & 73/Section A-Plat 20/80) Db. 603/499. -Buncombe County Register of Deeds.

[7] Asheville Citizen-Times, April 28, 1946., p. 29.

[8] Ibid.

[9] 09/25/1946 Harold & Ruth Goldbloom; Atlas Home Improvement Company to Beach & Blanche Cole Keller L HOMINY TWP Db. 622/124. -Buncombe County Register of Deeds.

[10] 09/25/1946 Beach & Blanche Cole Keller to Wachovia Bank & Trust Co, [D/T] L HOMINY TWP Db. 421/485. -Buncombe County Register of Deeds.

[11] 11/22/1946 C. C. & Mabel Mae Connell to Atlas Home Improvement Company EAST ST BILTMORE WD (Lot 22-Gaston Plat) Db. 627/239.; Also: 11/25/1946 C. C. & Mabel Mae Connell to Atlas Home Improvement Company EAST ST BILTMORE WD (Eastern portion Lot 16-Gaston Plat) Db. 627/263. -Buncombe Couty Register of Deeds.

[12] 12/03/1946 Harold & Ruth Goldbloom to John C. Cheesborough/Bank of Asheville [D/T] EAST ST Db. 424/437. – Buncombe County Register of Deeds.

[13] 11/05/1949 (rec’d 11/08/1949) Harold & Ruth Goldbloom to C. C. & Mabel Mae Connell EAST ST Db. 683/302. – Buncombe County Register of Deeds.

[14] 02/10/1947 (rec’d-04/11/1947) Atlas Home Construction Company [Incorporation] Db. C016/530. -Buncombe County Register of Deeds.

[15] 02/08/1947 A. M. & Ester Lewis to Harold & Ruth Goldbloom LOTS 23 & 24 PL 154 -63 Db. 632/192.; 02/08/1947 A. M. & Ester Lewis to Harold & Ruth Goldbloom LOTS 49 & 50 PL 154 -63 Db. 632/206. -Buncombe County Register f Deeds.

[16] 03/28/1947 Harold & Ruth Goldbloom to Atlas Home Construction Company 2 TRACTS(Tract 1: Lots 2, 72 & 73 Sand Hill Estates; Tract 2: Lots 23, 24, 49, 50- Edgewood) Db. 634/502. -Buncombe County Register of Deeds.

[17] “A Residence for Harold Goldbloom”, Sheet #1, on Henry Irven Gaines title block, dated 3- 1- 47. -Image #SA1538.1, Buncombe County Special Collections, Pack Memorial Library, Asheville, NC.

[18] The Asheville Times, April 11, 1947, p. 18.

[19] “HOUSES FOR ATLAS HOME CONSTR. CO.”, Sheet #1, on “Anthony Lord, 17 ½ Church Street” title block, dated 4-22-47, 1947, Drawn by: W. E. B. -Image #SA1540.1, Buncombe County Special Collections, Pack Memorial Library, Asheville, NC.

[20] “HOUSES FOR ATLAS HOME CONSTR. CO.”, Sheet #3, on “Anthony Lord, 17 ½ Church Street” title block, dated 4-26-47, 1947, Drawn by: W. E. B. -Image #SA1540.3, Buncombe County Special Collections, Pack Memorial Library, Asheville, NC.

[21] See: HOUSES FOR ATLAS HOME CONSTR. CO.”, Sheet #1, on “Anthony Lord, 17 ½ Church Street” title block, dated 6-23-47, 1947, Drawn by: W. E. B. -Image #SA1542.1;  HOUSES FOR ATLAS HOME CONSTR. CO.”, Sheet #2, on “Anthony Lord, 17 ½ Church Street” title block, dated 4-22-47, 1947, Drawn by: W. E. B. -Image #SA1542.2; HOUSES FOR ATLAS HOME CONSTR. CO.”, Sheet #3, on “Anthony Lord, 17 ½ Church Street” title block, dated 6-23-47, 1947, Drawn by: W. E. B. -Image #SA1542.3 – Buncombe County Special Collections, Pack Memorial Library, Asheville, NC.

[22] 02/02/1948 Atlas Home Construction Company [INC ] SUSPENDED Db. C016/530. -Buncombe County Register of Deeds.

[23] This can be confirmed by their respective deeds of transfer at the Buncombe County Register of Deeds.

[24] 12/09/1949 Atlas Home Construction Company to L H. Pollock 3 PARCELS Db. 684/234. – Buncombe County Register of Deeds.

[25] “Hensley Makes New Appeal for Vets’ Housing”, The Asheville Times, February 6, 1946, p. 5.

[26] Asheville Citizen-Times, February 17, 1946, p. 29.

[27] “Some Relief Provided In Housing Situation”, Asheville Citizen-Times, February 20, 1946, p. 2.

[28] “Pre-fabricated Houses To Be Brought To City”, Asheville Citizen-Times, February 27, 1946, p. 1.

[29] Ibid.

[30] Ibid.

[31] “Asheville American Legion Housing Corporation” chartered– recorded– 03/05/1946, Db. C016/259– Buncombe County Register of Deeds.  Authorized capital- $10,000 divided into  1,000 shares par value $10.00 each-but the corporation will start after the purchase of 12 shares-$120 is raised.  Stockholders: L. L. Froneberger, Cecil C. Jackson, Robert R. Williams, Jr., H. L. Thrash, F. J. Bauman, Charles C. Lingerfelt.

[32] “OCHSENREITER NAMED HEAD OF HOUSING GROUP”, Asheville Citizen-Times, March 7, 1946, p. 10.

[33] “First GI-Housing Unit Arrives”, Asheville Citizen-Times, April 20, 1946, p. 10.

[34] “Pre-fabricated House for Veteran Completed”, Asheville Citizen-Times, May 12, 1946, p. 17.

[35] “THOUSANDS SEE PRE-FABRICATED HOUSE IN CITY”, Asheville Citizen-Times, May 13, 1946, p. 5.

[36] Ibid.

[37] “Legion Housing Group Seeks Blanket Priority”, Asheville Citizen-Times, June 1, 1946, p. 2.

[38] Ibid.

[39] Ibid.

[40] The Asheville Times, July 2, 1946, p. 16.

[41] “HOUSING PLANS EXPLAINED AT VETERANS’ MEET”, Asheville Citizen-Times, August 21, 1946, p. 8.

[42] “HOUSING PROGRAM TO BRING 200 UNITS FOR VETS”, Asheville Citizen-Times, August 29, 1946, p. 1.

[43] Ibid.

[44] Ibid.

[45] “HOUSING GROUP TO AGAIN TAKE APPLICATIONS”, The Asheville Times, October 1, 1946, p. 15.

[46] Ibid.

[47] “Veterans Urged to Buy Prefabricated Homes”, Asheville Citizen-Times, October 27, 1946, p. 15.

[48] Ibid.

[49] “Alexander Park Name Given Demountable Homes”, New Journal and Guide, Norfolk, VA, October24, 1942, p. 18.

[50] “Vast Housing Center Gets First Tenants”, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, VA, November 12, 1942, p. 22.

[51] “Vast Housing Center Gets First Tenants”, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, VA, November 12, 1942, p. 13.

[52] “WW2 Era Mass-Produced Housing (Part 1)”, by Brian Potter, Construction Physics website, Jan 26, 2021. – https://www.construction-physics.com/p/ww2-era-mass-produced-housing-part

[53] Ibid.

[54] Article in the “Architectural Forum”, Volume 77, No. 1, July 1942, p. 107.

[55] The Portsmouth Star, Portsmouth, VA, April 5, 1946, p. 9.

[56] https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~vancgenealogyrecords/genealogy/Alexander%20Park%20Lease/alexander_park.htm

[57] “HOUSING FIRM IS ORGANIZED IN HENDERSON”, Asheville Citizen-Times, November 24, 1946, p. 27.

[58] Ibid.

[59] “BREVARD TOWN COUNCIL APPROVES NEW STREET”, Asheville Citizen-Times, December 1, 1946, p. 28.

[60] Asheville Citizen-Times, March 14, 1947, p. 12.

[61] The Asheville Times, April 17, 1947, p. 15.

[62] Ibid.

[63] Asheville Citizen-Times, June 2, 1947, p. 12.

[64] “Guthrie Promoted To Rank of Corporal”, Asheville Citizen-Times, July 22, 1943, p. 14.

[65] Asheville Citizen-Times, February 5, 1947, p. 8; See also: 02/03/1947 G. R. & Nina Katherine Ford to Hampton A. Guthrie LAUREL AVE Db. 631/491.-Buncombe County Register of Deeds.

[66] Asheville Citizen-Times, May 17, 1947, p. 6.

[67] “Builders’ Weekly Guide”, Volume 74, 1942, p.27.

[68] “ ‘City’ of 17,544 Being Populated In North Area”, The News and Courier, Charleston, SC, August 18, 1943, p. 12.

[69] “Engineering News-Record”, 1943-02-18: Vol 130 p. 6-7.

[70] Asheville Citizen-Times, July 1, 1947, p. 8.

[71] Asheville Citizen-Times, July 23, 1947 ·Page 10.

[72] Asheville Citizen-Times, July 25, 1947, ·Page 10.

[73] The News and Observer, Raleigh, NC Sep 03, 1947, p. 2.

[74] Asheville Citizen-Times, May 18, 1948, p. 5.