The older of the two neighborhoods in the East Row Historic District, Gateway may have derived its name from a toll gate once situated at Sixth and Linden streets in the early 1800s.
Once part of the vast James Taylor family estate, Gateway's development started in the 1870s along what is now Washington Street and commenced eastward. The sheer volume of development in Gateway meant that it took several decades to complete. This is why as one proceeds from west to east, from Washington Street to Oak Street, certain architectural styles -- ranging from Italianate, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival to Four Square and Bungalow - dominate certain sections of Gateway.
The most typical styles one finds in the older homes are influenced by Italianate, some Queen Anne and Second Empire. The homes were built mostly on what were deep, narrow and expensive lots. This resulted in a unique design called the Newport Plan.
In the Newport Plan, more room was made for decorative elements on the facade by moving the entrance to the building's side. The entrance typically opened into a foyer separating the parlor at the front of the house and the dining room and kitchen to the rear. Windows were located primarily on the side of the house facing the homeowner's yard. Many of these homes also had porches built on the side of the house. One of the many benefits of the Newport Plan is that, even in a densely populated urban area, it provides a relative degree of privacy.
Although the concentration of elegant Queen Annes in Mansion Hill gives it a reputation for having more of the historic district's finer homes, during the 1870s and 1880s, the more restrained nature of Italianate architecture dominating Washington, Overton and Monroe streets was the choice of affluent merchants who built homes there.
