The district was the home to many workers at the nearby breweries (e.g. Annheuser-Busch) or manufacturing plants (Koken Barber Supplies) who might walk or commute by street cars, thus giving rise to the name of the district as registered on the National Register of Historic Places.
Note several distinctive architectural features present on some or all of the buildings: most have no front doors, allowing access to the unseen entrances by walking through a narrow corridor between the buildings, about as wide as a ship’s gangway—which is still a local term for these corridors) to gain entry.
The buildings‘ footprint border the sidewalk (no front yards). The taller houses have limestone foundations, but the principal structural wall material is brick, with accents or decorative effects on walls and window treatment also in brick or terracotta (note, for example, the two soldier course arch on one building with decorative turned-point brick jutting defining the outer limit of the arch; also the unsupported pedestal—all reminiscent of the Richardsonian Romanesque style).
All roofs are flat, single slope & unseen from the street. Heating was commonly by fireplace & compound brick chimneys, incorporated (i.e., flush with) the exterior of the walls (note the last tall building, showing a front & back chimney set).
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