Soul City, North Carolina is a planned new town first proposed in 1969 by Floyd McKissick, a civil rights leader and director of the Congress of Racial Equality. Funded by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, (HUD) as one of thirteen model city projects, it was located on 5000 acres (20 km²) in Warren County near Manson. The city was to contain three villages housing 18,000 people by 1989. It was planned to be self-contained, so that residents could work, receive health care, get schooling, and worship in town. Soul City was the first new town organized by African-American businesses. A New town or planned community or planned city is a city, town, or community that was designed from scratch, and grew up more or less following the plan. ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday For other uses, see Number 1969. ... He defined Black Power as “political power, economic power and a new self image for Negroes” ... Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ... The Congress of Racial Equality or CORE is a civil rights organization that played a pivotal role in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement of the 20th century. ... The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, often abbreviated HUD, is a Cabinet department of the United States government. ... Warren County is a county located in the state of North Carolina. ...

In 1972, the city received a grant of $14 million from HUD on the hope that industry would move to the planned community. Yet by 1975, the city had few homes and only one industrial building "Soul Tech 1". 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ...

The city failed to reach its initial ambitions. Lawsuits and investigations into the use of funds by the Soul City Company, the city's developers resulted in foreclosure in 1979. In 1980, there were 35 housing units, a clinic, tennis court, pool. About 150 people were employed in the city. This page refers to the year 1979. ...

Since that time, the city has grown somewhat, but not to the size originally planned, in large part due to the Warren Correction Institute adjacent to town.

Representative Eva Clayton worked in Soul City before being elected to Congress. Categories: Stub | 1934 births ... A congress is a gathering of people, especially a gathering for a political purpose. ...