Notable architects including Kirtland Cutter, Willis Ritchie, Julius Zittel, Loren L. Rand, John K. Dow and Albert Held designed homes in the district.

It stretches from Monroe Street on the east, an arterial which connects the district with residential areas to the south of the district, to Downtown and the north side of the city beyond,[3] to Chestnut Street on the east where the South Hill falls off dramatically into the valley cut by Latah Creek and the Latah/Hangman neighborhood.

[5] The area that is now the Ninth Avenue Historic District was inhabited by the Spokane people for centuries prior to American settlement.

[5] Most of the construction in the district took place in the years between Cannon's plat in 1883 and 1920, with the most intense development occurring during the first decade of the 20th century.

It was during this decade that the city expanded from its original settlement location in what is now Downtown Spokane about a mile to the northeast of the district through Ninth Avenue and up the South Hill.

[5] Development in the area was spurred by the establishment of streetcar trolley lines which provided transportation into the city center.

Numerous notable local architects including Loren L. Rand, Willis A. Ritchie, Cutter and Malmgren, Albert Held, John K. Dow, and Julius Zittel worked to design homes in the district.

[5] In addition to the wealthy elite of Spokane, the neighborhood housed numerous craftsmen and teachers, creating a varied socio-economic environment which persists to this day.