South Side German Historic District (Boundary Increase)

This boundary increase adds roughly 47 blocks of south Quincy to an existing German immigrant neighborhood, extending it south of Jefferson Street. The area has always been mainly residential, with small corner commercial buildings and a few surviving industrial remnants such as a bakery and a furniture factory. Development was uneven, with some houses predating the 1856 platting of John Wood's Addition. Frame construction is more common here than in the original district, and brick falls below half of the buildings. Typical houses are modest vernacular cottages and I-houses, followed by L-houses in the 1880s, with a few standouts such as the Italianate Ruff Brothers house at 1137-1139 Adams and late Queen Anne homes linked to the Ruff family. St. Pauli German Evangelical Church (1874) and St. Mary's Church (1892) anchor their neighborhoods. Original footprints, rooflines and window openings largely survive, and many additions were made during the historic period. Most of the 859 contributing buildings are dwellings and outbuildings.