[2] The area began to grow in the 1830s as the boundaries of Lafayette expanded north and east of the Wabash River.

The Reverend Samuel Johnson built a house in 1844 on the north east corner of Ferry and Sixth Streets, which is the oldest structure in the district.

It ended on Main Street near the current Amtrak Depot, in the Downtown Historic District several blocks south of the neighborhood.

The following year, 1854, the Wabash Railroad cut an angle along the Erie Street route, just east of the district.

[3] Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church began as Lafayette's first black school.

Wells Memorial Public Library was built in 1928 and is an outstanding example of the Neoclassical style.