[2] Notable Traverse City residents, including Captain Henry Boardman, the Havilands, and the Hulls, constructed lavish houses in the neighborhood.

Additional construction, such as the 1890s Fair Oaks Terrace, accommodated merchants and professionals of more modest means.

The Boardman Neighborhood Historic District includes approximately 174 structures, the majority of then well-maintained Victorian wood-frame residences covered with clapboard siding.

In addition, the structures range from lavish houses built for some of the city's most prominent late 19th-century residents to more modest homes originally owned by small businessmen and lumber company employees.

The neighborhood is primarily residential in character, though some nonresidential structures, such as the city's first general hospital, are within the district.