[1] Italian immigrants heavily settled Ducktown in the early 20th century and named it for the duck houses they built along the bayfront, where they raised poultry and waterfowl.
Pitney Village, a housing project built in the neighborhood, was widely seen as contributing to the decline.
[1] St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church has been cited as a focal point of the neighborhood before and after the decline.
By the 1990s some families, mostly Hispanic and Asian, were returning to the neighborhood, and the Pitney Village housing project was demolished, leading to a renewal of the community.
Mobsters Nicodemo Scarfo, Phil Leonetti, and Salvatore Merlino[3] grew up and lived in Ducktown.