Early Housing

Early Housing. Faith, Family, and Education . 9th Avenue South Corridor. Although the first plats in the neighborhood were filed in the early 1900s, settlement was sporadic until the mid-1920s. Early housing in this area was decidedly vernacular, meaning folk building without the benefit of formal plans. While most housing consisted of one-story, wood-frame buildings with little to no added features, house types varied. These houses were typically found in rural areas, as this area once was. Many of the types shown here, such as the shotgun and the single and double pen, are types that derived from the west coast of Africa. They utilized a form that fostered togetherness, cultural traditions, and community values that laid the foundation upon which this new architecture was designed. The front porch is also a distinctly African-derived architectural feature, not being found in Western European architecture prior to this time. The front porch provided a cool space to gather on a hot evening and was quickly adapted and reused in the United States. These principles and design techniques were then assembled using European Colonial framing techniques. The photos you see here were taken from a "Sub-standard Housing Survey" conducted in late 1938. The houses were then rechecked for improvements in 1940 and 1941. Most of these house forms no longer exist in the city. After World War I, many servicemen, including African Americans, returned to St. Petersburg and built new homes using the GI bill. These new Minimal Traditional and Ranch style homes filled vacant lots in the 22nd Street S. neighborhood, many of which remain today., Housing Courts , Much like the Shotgun form, the idea of housing courts can also be traced back to Africa and the cultural ideal of togetherness. The construction of housing courts in St. Petersburg is evident on historic maps as early as 1913, but likely dates back to the 1890s. These were located at 504,506, 508, 512 17th Street S., (caption) These buildings are located in the 700 block of Queen Street S. Photo documentation shows the houses in existence as early as 1926. Photos courtesy of the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum , Single Pen . Temple Front Cottage . Shotguns . Hall-Parlor . Central Hall . Two-Story