Due to the damp, sandy soil, some of the historic buildings suffer from subsidence.

In the mid-19th century Jan Schenkman, author of the children's book Sint Nicolaas en zijn knecht (1850), was the head of a school on the Anjeliersgracht, by then one of the dirtiest canals in Amsterdam.

The school had a high ceiling so the children would avoid infection from diseases such as typhus, cholera and malaria, which were thought to spread through bad vapors.

It began to be cleaned up in the mid-19th century by philanthropic construction companies that demolished shacks and built new houses for workers.

The reasons for conversion to a street were the poor water quality and the need to handle increasing road traffic.