Suburban Sprawl?

Look carefully and you may recognize most of the houses in this photograph, although it is unlikely you will see oxen on Grant Street today. This handsome pair belonged to Thomas Carroll, whose house is pictured at the right. Grant Street was one of the many streets that were opened in Norfolk at the end of the 19^th century. During the decade between 1885 and 1895, Emerson Place, Mills Avenue, and Shepard Park Road (the original names), as well as Terrace View and Highfield Road, were all laid out to accommodate a building boom which saw 74 new houses built within a mile of the Village Green, nearly doubling the number of dwellings in that area.  A newly installed water system, completed by the end of that decade, piped fresh water from Lake Wangum to town and was among the many features that made Norfolk a desirable place to live.

—Ann Havemeyer