The area around the park is dominated by formerly high-status residences in a variety of 19th-century styles, many of which have been subsequently subdivided into multiunit housing.

Sewing machine manufacturers Wheeler & Wilson and Elias Howe also established facilities either in the district or nearby, spurring development of the area.

It was estimated that the East Bridgeport area housed three-fourths of the city's manufacturing base and one quarter of its population by 1869.

The area's mixed-income character, with wealthy businessmen, artisans and craftsmen, and the working class all living in close proximity, was compromised in the years after World War I, and it is now a largely working-class community.

The district retains much of its original Victorian character, with generally modest or reversible alterations to building exteriors.