Northcott Court

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Built by the Huntington Housing Authority in 1940,
Northcott Court had 136 rental apartments for
low-income residents. Long-since-outmoded,
 the apartments were gradually demolished,
 beginning in 2014. The last buildings
came down in 2018.

File photo | The Herald-Dispatch

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In June of 1940, the Huntington Housing Authority built
Northcott Court, a public housing project that
provided the city — still in the grips of the
 Great Depression — with 136 rental
apartments for low-income
 residents.

Northcott Court was named for G.A. Northcott,
 a prominent Huntington retail merchant and
political figure. Born in 1861, he died
 in 1938, just two years before
 the project was built.

Located on 16th Street (today’s Hal Greer Boulevard),
each apartment in the project had its own private
 entrance. Each had a living room, with bedrooms
on the second floor. Heat was provided for
each unit from a central heating plant
through radiators. The kitchen of
each unit was equipped with a
 gas range, gas refrigerator,
 sink and cupboards.

As the apartments were readied for occupancy, a
 number of negative rumors began circulating
 in the community. The Housing Authority
published a large newspaper
advertisement countering
some of the
misconceptions.

“Rumor has it,” the ad said, “that children will be excluded
 from the project, that tenants may not have guests, that
lights, heat, hot water and other facilities will
arbitrarily be shut off at certain hours, that
 W.P.A. workers and other persons receiving
government aid such as Workmen’s
Compensation, pensions, etc., will
 not be accepted, that widows and
their children are excluded, that
 persons owning automobiles
 may not apply. Such
 rumors are
 untrue.”

Over the next 80-plus years, Northcott Court provided
 badly needed housing for countless families. Finally,
 in 2014, the Housing Authority began demolishing
 the long-since-outmoded apartment buildings.
The demolition was spread out for several
 years in order to give each family time
to find other housing. The last of the
buildings came down in 2018.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Note:  This Article and picture appeared in the Herald-Dispatch Newspaper on August 6, 2024.

-----------------------------------------------------------

[ Back ]