Originally part of the St. Louis Commons, this area was subdivided and gridded in 1855, with many of the early developments in the neighborhood being small farms and brickyards.

Some of the oldest buildings in the neighborhood are small frame and brick farmhouses built in the 1860s, many in the form of a flounder house, a simple but unique vernacular home, often of one-and-a-half stories with a shed roof.

With the construction of a north/south roadway called Carondelet Avenue, Marine Villa was able to continue developing as the city's population grew and expanded from the downtown core.

Along with the streetcar route, bustling commercial districts developed along Cherokee Street, South Broadway and Jefferson Avenue.

Surrounding the shopping districts the neighborhood is characterized by single and multi-family historic brick homes, built primarily in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.