The era of new town development in the United States, which is of special interest to Planned Community Archives (PCA), begins with the Greenbelt towns developed by the federally sponsored Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The next major new town development was Reston, Virginia, in 1962. Since that time, at least thirty-eight planned communities have been developed throughout the United States. Thirteen of these communities were sponsored by the Federal New Communities Program of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (1970 - 1983).
The records contained in this collection were assembled by the Planned Community Archives, Inc., of Reston, Virginia, and placed on deposit in Special Collections and Archives of Fenwick Library, George Mason University beginning in 1986. Each year since then has seen major additions to the collection. After many years of housing and processing the collection, George Mason University Libraries accepted the Planned Community Archives collections as a donation by Planned Community Archives, Inc.
From the guide to the Planned Community Archives collection, 1960-2009, (George Mason University. Special Collections and Archives.)
