List of U.S. Cities & Towns with Row Houses

[village person]

(last major revision: Nov. 29)



Explanation:


I'm trying to put together a list of cities and towns throughout the country which have at least one example of pre-WWII, attached row house type housing (at least 3 side-by-side units). Clearly this is an extremely common housing form in certain parts of the country but not throughout. It is those regions where this type of housing is less common that I wish to focus on.

This is just the beginning of a pet project. The goal is to expose the lesser known cities and towns where historic row houses and similar housing can be found (even if only one, small row) in those states where such cities or towns are not widespread. Another goal is to map out the distribution of this housing type throughout the country.

Please Note:
This is not about numbers: a tiny incorporated village with only one row of three, WWII row houses could and will be listed along with cities that contain hundreds of such rows.


____________________________________________________________________________________________________________



Criteria:



the city, town, village, etc. must be incorporated



the municipality must have at least one example of the following: 3 or more attached houses or units in a row, with separate, outside entrances and no interior common space (ignoring later subdividing of units)



the housing must be from the 18th, 19th, or the early 20th Century, predating World War II (the focus is on historic housing -- in other words, no new town house developments which can indeed be found anywhere in the country)


The above criteria are not perfect, but they are simply devised to help me focus on the type of housing that I'm interested in. Suggestions on how to improve or rethink the criteria are welcome, but note that I do not wish to change the focus significantly. Most importantly, I do not wish to include post-WWII developments. I also wish to continue to include even the smallest of incorporated towns, not just large cities. Aside from that, I'm open to suggestions.

Note:
Though the title of the thread includes the term "row houses," and though row houses indeed fit the criteria, the criteria are not meant to define what is a row house. What originally may have been tenement housing may also fit the criteria.


____________________________________________________________________________________________________________



Exemption:


I have removed the following states in which row houses are considerably common throughout and are thus not the main focus of this compilation. This is not meant to devaluate those states with which row houses are most associated, it is meant to make the list more manageable, more practical, and more focused. Thousands of municipalities fit the criteria from these states.

Currently Exempted States: CT, DE, MA, MD, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, VA, & DC


____________________________________________________________________________________________________________



The List:


This list is subject to frequent change. Also, please understand that this list will be perpetually incomplete, as I do not expect this forum alone to have the capacity to complete such an undertaking. Completion is not crucial; I simply wish to see the list continue to expand. If you see something missing, please tell me to add it!



AL
Huntsville

AK


AR


AZ


CA
Oakland
San Francisco

CO
Boulder
Colorado Springs
Denver
La Junta
Trinidad

FL


GA
Savannah

HI


IA


ID


IL
Alton
Belleville
Chicago
East St. Louis
Granite City

IN
Indianapolis
Madison

KS


KY
Augusta
Covington
Louisville
Maysville
Newport

LA
New Orleans

ME


MI
Detroit

MN
Minneapolis
St. Paul

MO
Cape Girardeau
Kansas City
St. Louis

MS


MT


NC


ND


NE
Hastings
Lincoln
Omaha


NH


NM


NV


OK


OR
Portland


SC
Charleston

SD


TN
Chattanooga
Knoxville
Memphis
Nashville

TX
Houston

UT


VT


WA
Seattle

WI
Milwaukee

WV
Charleston
Wheeling

WY

[STLgasm]

Indianapolis? If that one's on the list then Detroit should definitely be on the list, however I don't think Indy should be included with these other cities.

[vertex]

BB, I think to really make this list valid, photos are mandatory. If there are photos that others have posted to other threads on this board, lets use those.

BTW, I'm curious to know how Norfolk and Columbus got on this list.

[J. Will]

I can't imagine there's any city or town that doesn't have at least SOME rowhouses. Even small towns.

[kool maudit]

every city will have a couple, no?

[village person]

Indianapolis? If that one's on the list then Detroit should definitely be on the list, however I don't think Indy should be included with these other cities.

C'mon, let's not do this.

I'm not interested in what people think or do not think should be on the list, only in what cities do or do not have what I described in the criteria. If I'm mistaken about Indianapolis, that's another story. But I'm positive it has what I'm looking for. Heck, one quick trip to urbanohio.com to confirm it, and I see more than one example. And it only takes one example to be included on the list. Detroit fits the criteria; that's also another story. I'll simply add it.

Either a city does or does not have what meets the criteria. Columbus, Norfolk, Indianapolis, and Detroit do. Photos aren't necessary but are welcome. If you personally need to confirm these cities with photos, I'm sure they can be found. Let's get this straight: I'm not listing a bunch of random cities on a hunch.

[village person]

I can't imagine there's any city or town that doesn't have at least SOME rowhouses. Even small towns.

You can't? Well that's really odd.

[village person]

every city will have a couple, no?

Uh, no. In the Northeast, there are clearly going to be hundreds that meet the criteria. And it's hundreds I expect to list. In the rest of the country... well, how many cities in Indiana, for example, have them? North Carolina? Colorado? Washington state? Louisiana? etc. etc. Far fewer than you'd think.

[JivecitySTL]

Detroit probably has 50 times more rowhouses per capita than Indianapolis. And you can add every single city in the state of Pennsylvania too, esp. the sizable ones such as Harrisburg, Allentown, Bethlehem, Washington. Hagerstown and Annapolis, MD also have shitloads of rowhouses.

Herodotus (a forumer) would be the best resource for what you're looking for. That guy is a rowhouse fanatic, and one of the most well-traveled people on this forum.

[STLgasm]

You can't? Well that's really odd.

Yes, it's safe to say that every city of at least 100,000 probably has at least one example of "rowhouses." Even suburban-oriented cities are building new rowhouse developments, such as Charlotte. I think a better list would be cities known for its plentiful blocks of rowhouses.

[village person]

Christ! Read the criteria! I've highlighted it for you.

[Evergrey]

Lewistown, PA

[PhillyRising]

Detroit probably has 50 times more rowhouses per capita than Indianapolis. And you can add every single city in the state of Pennsylvania too, esp. the sizable ones such as Harrisburg, Allentown, Bethlehem, Washington. Hagerstown and Annapolis, MD also have shitloads of rowhouses.

Herodotus (a forumer) would be the best resource for what you're looking for. That guy is a rowhouse fanatic, and one of the most well-traveled people on this forum.

I would go and say the majority of towns in Pennsylvania will have some rowhomes...especially if they were the site of heavy industry 90-100 years ago. Many companies built their own homes for their workers nearby....

[J Church]

Honestly, I'd be surprised if you couldn't find a scattered few in damned near every North American city of any size. Of prewar vintage.

[Markitect]

Milwaukee has a few, old and new.

[JManc]

i'm sure other NY cities have them. utica does not though

[BTinSF]

Let's try to compile a list of U.S. cities that have at least one example of pre-WWII row houses.

CA
San Francisco



I don't have pictures, but there have to be some in Oakland.

[J. Will]

You can't? Well that's really odd.

It would be odd if you could tell me a city that has literally zero townhouses. Maybe a tiny village with a few thousand people somewhere...

[village person]

Honestly, I'd be surprised if you couldn't find a scattered few in damned near every North American city of any size. Of prewar vintage.

It has been my experience that there are more cities and towns in this country that have NO attached rows consisting of 3 or more original houses predating WWII than cities that do. But I guess everyone has a different experience.

J. Will... townhouses? Period? Why is it so hard to read the original post!

[Teshadoh]

You would be surprised visiting the southeast - historic rowhouses are very rare. As noted, only the colonial cities have rowhouses - but, there may be rowhouses in small mill towns or in cities that have since annexed these mill villages. Nonetheless, even in low income mill villages single family homes were built.

You can add Denver, CO to the list. Most of them are duplexes, but there are several triplex/quadplex rowhomes.

[fangorangutang]

There definitely are towns in the Northwest without any, I'd go as far as to say even some small cities like Eugene and Salem don't have any. Portland definitely has some, although many of them are small infill projects. The best place to find them would probably be NW Portland, although I'm not even sure any buildings there qualify as true rowhouses.

[Urban Zombie]

^Add Seattle to that too...there are actually quite a few in the Central District and a couple of other neighborhoods.

[danwxman]

Just in my county of Cumberland, Pennsylvania you have:
Carlisle (pop. 18,000)
Mechanicsburg (pop. 9,000)
Shippensburg
Shiremanstown
Newville
Boiling Springs
New Cumberland
Enola (merged with East Pennsboro Township)
Mount Holly Springs

There are even a few small villages (only a few hundred people if not less, neither of these are even incorporated) have rowhomes:
Churchtown
West Fairview (also merged with East Pennsboro township)

Western and central Cumberland county have quite a few rural villages, many of them having at least one row of rowhomes.

[Shawn]

By your definition, rows can be found in, off the top of my head:

Cambridge, Quincy, Milton, Braintree, Weymouth, Everett, Chelsea, Revere, Lynn, Winthrop, Salem, Peabody, Lowell, Lawrence, Methuen, Haverhill, Malden, Medford, Watertown, Newton, Walthem, Needham, Dedham, Norwood, Walpole, Stoughton, Brockton, Worcester, Attleboro, North Attleboro, Seekonk, Swansea, Somerset, Taunton, Fall River, New Bedford, Plymouth, Framingham, Palmer, Amherst, Northampton, Springfield, Holyoke, Chicopee, Pittsfield, North Adams, Fitchburg, Leominister, Andover, Newburyport, Gloucester, Melrose, Arlington, Ludlow, Orange . . .

In Rhode Island: Pawtucket, Cranston, Barington, Bristol, East Providence, Woonsocket, Central Falls, Cumberland . . .

Pick any city or urban town in MA or RI (Orange has only 8000 people) and you will find rows.

[Xing]

Belleville IL, Alton IL, and Granite City IL have some. I have more proof, but would have to look through my old photos, which are on CD's. These are all suburbs of St Louis, and the metro east, in general, is older than much of Chicago. Obviously Chicago's are nicer. There are a few in River North that always make my jaw drop.

Belleville
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/Chrome979/DSC03917.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/Chrome979/bv49.jpg

Granite City

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/Chrome979/DSC05197.jpg

[Jeff_in_Dayton]

Did I see Dayton on that list upthread? Dayton isnt really a rowhouse city. There are few of these buildings that are sort of like rowhouses, but I don't think they are reallly in the spirit of the the true east coast row.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/Jeff59c/Lower%20South%20Park/Main-Warren/LSPA12.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/Jeff59c/Lower%20South%20Park/Main-Warren/LSPA16.jpg

Dayton's favorite multifamily houseform is the double.

Columbus comes closest to having a lot of rowhous blocks

Cincinnati has a lot of zero lot line houseforms, but more characterized as a local form of tenement than a rowhouse.

[ColDayMan]

Ohio's only true "rowhouse-a-plenty" cities are Cincinnati and Columbus. There are a couple of towns with a decent amount of rowhouses (Marietta, Ripley, Zanesville, Coshocton, Sidney) while Dayton and Cleveland have sporadic rowhouses here-and-there but generally are dense single-family.

[SuburbanNation]

Kansas City, Missouri - North End (Columbus Park)

there are a few rowhouses randomly scattered around the city, north end, westside, midtown (really good example of the whole side of a block of ornate victorians, but alas, no photo).

http://www.pbase.com/minoltab/image/33960636/large.jpg

townhouses like this are more common, but don't meet your criteria.

http://www.kcskyscrapers.com/albums/album90/October2006_342_A_copy.jpg

photos by tosspot!

[edluva]

Almost every city of decent size at the turn of the century should have an example to fit your criteria. I can already think of neighborhoods that have them in LA, a city that is not well known for rowhouses and victorians.

[Shasta]

My old college town of Geneva, New York had a beautiful row of Federal Style townhomes that ran along South Main Street overlooking Seneca Lake. Here's the best pic I could find on the web...
https://www.preservationdirectory.com/Uploads/PhotoGalleryListings/96/_large_DSCF0617.JPG

[brickell]

I can think of a couple of newer developments in Miami, St. Pete and Fort Lauderdale that might qualify.

I can 't remember a specific example, but I'd bet St. Augustine has some. Key West, Ybor City, Tallahassee and Pensacola seems like they should, but I they are more shotgun style cities than they are rowhouses.

In fact, just about every new urbanist city down here has some rowhouses/townhomes: Celebration, SeaSide, Artisean . . .

[shappy]

some of the posts here are a shining example of just how few people actually read the point of these threads...

anyway besides that, maybe it would have been better to look at cities by regions and ask appropriate questions from there. Like, what city in the northeast does not have rowhouses... or what city in the southeast does, etc.


p.s. I'm surprised to see Seattle on that list. I've never seen any examples from there... anyone have pics?

[ctman987]

HARTFORD, CT

The Capital Avenue Brownstones

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/531279347RPMcVf_fs.jpg

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/531280182bbocQX_fs.jpg

[Cirrus]

How about a list of cities where the primary vernacular housing stock is the rowhouse?

To me that would be far more meaningful. Even in Colorado I can think of 1 or 2 rowhouse blocks in just about every city of any size, but that doesn't make them "rowhouse cities".

[village person]

some of the posts here are a shining example of just how few people actually read the point of these threads...

anyway besides that, maybe it would have been better to look at cities by regions and ask appropriate questions from there. Like, what city in the northeast does not have rowhouses... or what city in the southeast does, etc.


p.s. I'm surprised to see Seattle on that list. I've never seen any examples from there... anyone have pics?

I like that idea, but defining the Southeast, Northeast, etc. is too subjective and probably could lead to an argument over what state belongs in what category. :rolleyes:

I'm thinking that once I get a certain number of cities & towns listed for a state, I'll replace the state's list with "more than 100." However, I won't do that unless I get at least 100 specific examples (or if I decide to use a lower number, that number of examples). Surprisingly, there aren't even 60 in the MA list yet. So maybe I'll cut off at 80 or 75. Or lower, even. I don't know. :shrug:

I, too, am surprised that Seattle was mentioned. And LA. I'd love to see pics of these. Denver & Portland, too. Really the only city out West that I've seen row houses in is San Francisco. So it would be interesting to see what variety these others have. I imagine Oakland's would be similar to San Francisco's stock.

One of my plans is to map out the distribution of these cities & towns, however incomplete the list. That's one of the reasons I'm interested in including even the smallest of places. Another reason is that I'm simply more interested in smaller places than most people probably are on these boards. Obviously there are a lot of small towns in this country! But that really is a moot point unless you're the type to picture anything smaller than Oklahoma City as entirely insignificant.

brickell, there are no historic row houses in Florida as far as I know. St. Augustine comes the closest, with three colonial houses which appear to be attached on St. George Street. Two of the three are indeed attached, but the third simply has a front coquina wall concealing an open space between the houses. The colonial houses of St. Augustine generally were open on at least 3 sides, so it's unlikely that it ever had a house sandwiched between 2 others.

[village person]

How about a list of cities where the primary vernacular housing stock is the rowhouse?

To me that would be far more meaningful. Even in Colorado I can think of 1 or 2 rowhouse blocks in just about every city of any size, but that doesn't make them "rowhouse cities".

How about actually contributing to the list? The list, by the way, which is not of "rowhouse cities," but of cities & towns with row houses.

[SuburbanNation]

heres a crappy picture of the end of the kc rowhouses i didnt have a picture of.

http://ll.bizjournals.com/cre/listing/kansascity/776771.jpg

[kool maudit]

you're being kind of a dick about your list.

[village person]

You don't think I have just cause for being a dick about the way people are responding to this? Several people didn't even read the original post. Several other people are asking why I don't make some other kind of list. Others, like yourself, are suggesting that every city and town in the country fits the criteria, which is absurd. Excuse a human being for becoming frustrated.

[Cirrus]

You don't think I have just cause for being a dick about the way people are responding to this? People are responding like they are because it's an impossible and largely ridiculous task. At least one such row of three attached homes can most likely be found in virtually every town that was of any size before WWII. West and South included. But it would take intimate knowledge of every such town in America to make your list anything close to valid, so it’s an exercise in futility. And if that weren't enough, your standards don't make sense in the first place, if your interest is in building typology and not history. Yeah, there are a lot of suburban townhouses around, but if you don't think genuine urban rowhouses have been built since the war, then I have a lot of places I'd like to show you.

But fine. Here. Only those I can verify. In Colorado's case there are probably at least 10 more. In MD and VA there are dozens more.

Colorado:
Boulder
Colorado Springs
La Junta (tiny western town, has exactly one row of 3 houses)
Trinidad

Maryland:
Frederick
Cumberland
Brunswick
Ellicott City
Eastport
Towson
Dundalk
Essex
Brooklyn Park
Greenbelt
Ocean City

Virginia:
Arlington
Leesburg
Fredericksburg
Manassas
Newport News
Portsmouth
Lynchburg

[Cirrus]

Put it to you like this: It's insulting to the urbanism of America to think a handful of people on an internet message board can list every town that has even one set of rowhouses. We may as well try and list every town that has a commercial building made of brick, or every town that once had wooden sidewalks. To think it's possible implies there is a lot less to America than there really is.

... OTOH, narrowing your criteria somehow, to include only cities with a lot of rowhouses, might be pretty interesting. So people are upset because your thread is insulting, but there's a good concept behind it if only you weren't so tight about what appear to be not very well thought out criteria.

[EtherealMist]

Great thread Bruin Brain!

This is a very cool concept I just think we have to figure out the best criteria for the list. Like other people were saying, you can find a few row houses in almost any city, even in the west. I think it would be a good idea to make it a list of cities with a significant amount of row houses.

[village person]

There's a finite number of cities and towns, so impossible is the wrong word. Maybe it is ridiculous. And of course it's somewhat futile given the limited scope of knowledge and interests on this board. But note that I truly never expect to complete the list. I only want to keep expanding it. Insulting was not something I even considered. If that is the case, then I must apologize for that. I was hoping I could make it clear that my expectations were not unreasonable, that the list would be forever a work-in-progress but contributions would help.

I have an intimate knowledge of many small towns in regions where very few meet the criteria. I know very well that most places in certain parts of the country would make the list, but again, it's a finite number. I'm more interested in those parts of the country where they are not in every town, such as Colorado. We're talking less than 20 places, right? That works for me.

I'm open to revising the standards such that I better accomplish the same, not a different, goal. I'm interested in history as much as, if not more than, the typology. I'm not interested in post-WWII row houses, especially those that can be called new. My reason for this is possibly because my field is history, not planning or design related. I'm a history major, not a planning major, if that gives any hint of my interests. But just as I don't want to open this to pre-WWII detached housing, I don't want to open it to post-WWII row houses. If having a set limit of age is not going to work, then I don't know what sort of limits could work. There have to be limits, and I don't think any can escape argument.

I'm open to reducing the number of cities and towns that could be listed, but need suggestions. I don't want to list just major cities with hundreds of row houses. That's not my goal, and it's a list I can already pretty much picture in my head. We all know those cities, right? So, something between the list of potentially a 5-digit number of places with my current, ill-conceived criteria and a list of possibly only a 2 digit number of the major cities with hundreds of row houses is what I'm open to. How it can be done is a big question.

Thanks for trying to find common ground. My frustration is subsiding. :)

[J Church]

I don't think it's insulting. I just think it's casting an impossibly wide net. And I'm not sure how you would narrow it, given that listing cities where rows are common is unavoidably subjective.

[Xing]

Oh, and you may want to add East St. Louis Illinois. I know they have some near downtown.

[frank_pentangeli]

Easton, Lancaster, Norristown, Pottstown, Pottsville in PA

[Urban Zombie]

p.s. I'm surprised to see Seattle on that list. I've never seen any examples from there... anyone have pics?

I had quite a few pics, but I don't where they went off too...I'll post them if they turn up.

[TheMeltyMan]

Easton, Lancaster, Norristown, Pottstown, Pottsville in PA

We could get super-specific as well

uhh Fleetwood, Reading, Hamburg, West Reading, Kutztown all in Pennsylvania

[Jasonhouse]

Erie, PA

[totheskies]

"Let's try to compile a list of U.S. cities that have at least one example of pre-WWII row houses.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Criteria:

3 or more houses in a row: attached single-family (originally)

from the 18th or 19th Centuries (favorably), or the early 20th Century if nothing else (pre-WWII -- in other words, no new "townhouses" which can be found anywhere)

the houses do not have to be identical nor do they have to have been built simultaneously, as long as they're attached (example: 'Rainbow Row' in Charleston, SC)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The goal is to expose the lesser known cities and towns where old row houses can be found (even if only one, small row) and to list them along with the larger cities more commonly associated with the housing form. This is not about numbers: a tiny incorporated village with only one row of three, 19th century houses will be listed among cities with thousands of them.

Pictures are welcome."


So first off, I'm glad that you have an interest in this subject, but I don't understand why a rowhouse has to be defined in a certain way. Hoagies, Grinders, Submarines, and Bombers are all virtually the same thing, but different variations. Same thing with urban housing as you go to different areas of the country. It shouldn't be expected for Houston to look identical to New York in how people live because they are different cities. Houston, surprisingly enough, does not have an abundance of rowhouses, townhomes, brownstones, east coast dwellings, or whatever you'd like to classify them as. However, there are plenty of residences in this city that are attached to each other.

Also you should probably be more specific about your time frame. The invention of the automobile, air travel, WWI, modern credit and stock trading, and the Great Depression all occurred between the 19th century and WWII.

[village person]

I'm probably not getting what you're trying to say. I'll just point out that I didn't try to define what a row house is or isn't, only what sort of housing I'm trying to focus on. My 'time frame' is simply pre-WWII. The parts that you've made bold don't have anything to do with each other; the "tiny incorporated village with only one row of three, 19th century houses" was just an example of what would appear on the list. 19th century being pre-WWII. Let me know if that still doesn't make sense.

[Ex-Ithacan]

Well if these ugly rascals count, add Ithaca, NY to the list:

http://img439.imageshack.us/img439/6289/ith45729cm.jpg

[J. Will]

"It has been my experience that there are more cities and towns in this country that have NO attached rows consisting of 3 or more original houses predating WWII than cities that do."

It looks like you're assuming these places don't have any rowhouses. Unless you've been down literally the entire length of every single street in a particular city, how can you be certain there are no rowhouses?

Anyways, the majority of the housing n the old city of Toronto is attached. There are some single-family detached homes as well, but they're definitely in the minority.

[village person]

^You imagine there are row houses in every single town in the U.S. and I'm the one making assumptions. Incredible. :)

[satsuchan]

Another good place to look for this type of vernacular housing is along the Ohio River - many old towns have retained their old housing stock. Two quick examples (and there must be a hundred more):

Maysville, KY, southeast of Cincinnati

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c272/cjfjapan/Maysville1.jpg

Madison, Indiana - but I cant find any pics now. I think someone did a great spread here or on SSC recently, but for the life of me I can't find it. Grrrr.

And a shot from Indianapolis - courtesy of urbanohio.net
http://www.urbanohio.com/OtherStates/Indiana/Indianapolis/Neighborhoods/StJoseph/StJoe6.JPG

[Jeff_in_Dayton]

The Ohio Valley is indeed a good area to look for rowhouses....Maysville has been mentioned, and Madison. ColDayMan mentioned Cincinnati and Ripley, which is downriiver from Maysville. Also Augusta KY, which has a set of rowhouses fronting the old river landing.

Further downriver, Louisville had rowhouses at one time, but they were demolished during urban renewal

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/Jeff59c/Louisville%20Tower/Downtown/Louis7.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/Jeff59c/Louisville%20Tower/Downtown/Louis8.jpg

Pittsburgh has a lot of rows, too. Particularly on the Mexican War Streets.

For a smaller place, this country town between Cincinnati and Dayton..Germantown, as a small group of rowhouses.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/Jeff59c/Germantown/GtownRows1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/Jeff59c/Germantown/GtownRows2.jpg

...the name implys German settlement, but the Germans in this case where from Pennsylvania, not Germany.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/Jeff59c/Germantown/GtownRows2.jpg

[Joey D]

Ok, here are some cities which meet your criteria from my area

Delaware

Wilmington
Newark
Dover
New Castle
Elsmere

Pennsylvania

Chester
West Chester
Kennett Square

New Jersey

Gloucester City
Burlington City

That's all i can think in my immediate area.

[Chef]

You can find 19th century row houses in Minneapolis and St Paul.

St Paul has a lot more but neither are really rowhouse cities. It is mostly detached single family houses with 4-plexes and bigger apartment buildings mixed in. Even the older parts of the cities are more spread out compared to cities to the east.

[BnaBreaker]

Chattanooga, TN has quite a few rowhouses of different styles.

[village person]

Thanks, guys. Some interesting additions! I don't know why I didn't think of Chattanooga. Does Memphis have any?
I thought there might still be a couple of rows in Old Louisville. I'll look into it...

I added all 50 states. It kind of shows how empty the list still is.

[blorkishdork]

Bryn Mawr and Ardmore, PA both have row homes from that time period... not too many but they are there. Narberth, PA also has some rows but I don't know from what period, i believe they are pre-war.

[Exodus]

A few examples of Detroit rows.
http://steelflame.zoto.com/img/original/3e2b6c3ee11ab0de5b55279cc28ea2cd-.jpg
Credit for these pics go out to who ever took them. I just made a collage so it would be quicker and easier to post them. Also, Huntsville, Al. has a hand full of old rows, I think it is off of Washington St. ?

[Exodus]

Well if these ugly rascals count, add Ithaca, NY to the list:

http://img439.imageshack.us/img439/6289/ith45729cm.jpgThose are not ugly.

[Ex-Ithacan]

^Maintenance wise, they could use a rehab.

[BnaBreaker]

Thanks, guys. Some interesting additions! I don't know why I didn't think of Chattanooga. Does Memphis have any?
I thought there might still be a couple of rows in Old Louisville. I'll look into it...

I added all 50 states. It kind of shows how empty the list still is.

Yes, Memphis does have some. Nashville and Knoxville have some here and there as well, but they aren't nearly as plentiful as most of their stock was either destroyed by natural disaster or destroyed by man, so it is up to you whether to add them to the list or not.

Sorry I don't have any photos of them.

[A&Fcolumbus]

BTW, I'm curious to know how Norfolk and Columbus got on this list.

You obviously havent traveled around Columbus' old neighborhoods. Columbus has one of the larger collections of rowhouses, in the urban center city, in the midwest.

[ColDayMan]

^You mean like this?

http://www.urbanohio.com/CentralOhio/Columbus/Neighborhoods/Indianola/I3.JPG

http://www.urbanohio.com/CentralOhio/Columbus/Neighborhoods/Indianola/I14.jpg

http://www.urbanohio.com/CentralOhio/Columbus/Neighborhoods/Indianola/I12.JPG

Nah, we're all ranch houses!

[J. Will]

^You imagine there are row houses in every single town in the U.S. and I'm the one making assumptions. Incredible. :)

You're quite incredible yourself. Unless you've been down the entire length of every street (which is unlikely, even in a small city), you can't be certain that any city has no rowhomes. You're just assuming.

[shappy]

^You mean like this?

http://www.urbanohio.com/CentralOhio/Columbus/Neighborhoods/Indianola/I3.JPG

http://www.urbanohio.com/CentralOhio/Columbus/Neighborhoods/Indianola/I14.jpg

http://www.urbanohio.com/CentralOhio/Columbus/Neighborhoods/Indianola/I12.JPG

Nah, we're all ranch houses!

I'm not a big fan of those blocky rowhouses. They look more like horizontal apartments rather than attached houses. I think they are typically built after the turn of the century. Some of Detroit's rowhouses have this style as well.

[Exodus]

You're quite incredible yourself. Unless you've been down the entire length of every street (which is unlikely, even in a small city), you can't be certain that any city has no rowhomes. You're just assuming.I even stumbled upon a street in Huntsville Alabama that has several rowhouses that are from the WW2 era.

[Exodus]

I'm not a big fan of those blocky rowhouses. They look more like horizontal apartments rather than attached houses. I think they are typically built after the turn of the century. Some of Detroit's rowhouses have this style as well.I often wondered about this. Are single family homes that happen to be touching one another rowhouses, or are the buildings built with multi family units in a row rowhouses ? Or are both just different types of rowhouses ? Btw, You will find these buildings in a lot more cities than just Columbus or Detroit.

[Major AWACS]

Houston has several areas or small clustered pre WWII rowhouses, though more preWWII smaller single lot homes exist. Off of west gray st is one example and near Boulavard North as well IIRC.

Ciao, and Hook 'em Horns,
Capt-AWACS, Wo ist die boom-boom frau

[passdoubt]

There are 2,565 municipalities in Pennsylvania. I’d bet that half of them have at least a couple blocks of pre-war rowhouses. We’d be wasting time to list each of the 1,000 or so little towns. My mom grew up in a rowhouse in a little town in the Coal Region. The brick row is pretty typical Pennsylvania vernacular architecture, and the state is dotted with too many small towns to be worth listing.

Off the top of my head, in the Philadelphia area alone: Upper Darby, Millbourne, Yeadon, Morton, Lansdowne, Marcus Hook, Eddystone, Darby, Chester, Media, West Chester, Norristown, Bridgeport, North Wales, Ambler, Jenkintown, Doylestown, Pottstown, Souderton, Quakertown… I could keep going.

[passdoubt]

I often wondered about this. Are single family homes that happen to be touching one another rowhouses, or are the buildings built with multi family units in a row rowhouses ? Or are both just different types of rowhouses ?Rowhouses are single family homes that share common walls. Today many are rented and/or broken into multiple units, but they were originally sold to homeowners. You own the home, from the basement to the roof, and the property, from the sidewalk to the back.

[village person]

You're quite incredible yourself. Unless you've been down the entire length of every street (which is unlikely, even in a small city), you can't be certain that any city has no rowhomes. You're just assuming.

The same can be said of your assumptions. Alright?

I could say there are flat-roofed, pentagonal, pink houses with black trim and yellow shutters in every city and town and then throw at you, "well, you'd have to go down every street on God's green earth to be certain that there aren't!" <--This is how you look, to me.

[brickell]

Just to use this as an example. It appears to share a common roof, common architectual elements, and I wouldn't be suprised if it shared common water, sewer and property taxes. If we're going to be anal about it, wouldn't these qualify as -plexes or condos, even if they are in a rowhome style.

http://www.urbanohio.com/CentralOhio/Columbus/Neighborhoods/Indianola/I14.jpg

As to the original purpose of the thread, surely there a whole new breed of townhomes and rowhouses in the suburbs that don't live up to the style or urbanity of the pre WWII rowhomes. I live in one and would never consider on par with what we're seeing here. However, there are many rowhouse style projects, especially new urbanist developements, that live up to both the style and form of their older cousins. Why discount these?

[village person]

There are 2,565 municipalities in Pennsylvania. I’d bet that half of them have at least a couple blocks of pre-war rowhouses. We’d be wasting time to list each of the 1,000 or so little towns. My mom grew up in a rowhouse in a little town in the Coal Region. The brick row is pretty typical Pennsylvania vernacular architecture, and the state is dotted with too many small towns to be worth listing.

Off the top of my head, in the Philadelphia area alone: Upper Darby, Millbourne, Yeadon, Morton, Lansdowne, Marcus Hook, Eddystone, Darby, Chester, Media, West Chester, Norristown, Bridgeport, North Wales, Ambler, Jenkintown, Doylestown, Pottstown, Souderton, Quakertown… I could keep going.

I agree that listing that many would be pointless, but I'm going to list as many as people post for a particular state until it reaches a certain number (haven't decided the limit yet). Then I'll stop adding to that state and replace the list with a "more than X number." I'll add your places to the PA list and see what number it's approaching. Then I'll decide if that's enough to stop adding to that state yet or keep going with it...

^The point of this is because I'm more interested in the states that have a smaller number of places with known row houses. States like MA, PA, NY, etc., I expected to have an unmanageably large number of places that fit the criteria, and so I don't expect to list every little place in those states. Basically, I'm trying to map out the distribution of row houses throughout the country. I don't need to know every little place where they're most densely distributed; it's where they're least densely distributed (the South and West, for instance) that I want to get as many as can be found. I hope that makes sense.

[Exodus]

Rowhouses are single family homes that share common walls. Today many are rented and/or broken into multiple units, but they were originally sold to homeowners. You own the home, from the basement to the roof, and the property, from the sidewalk to the back.That's how these buildings in Detroit are. It is possible for individuals to own each unit. I rented a unit that was in one building with 8 units across the front, and each unit was owned by 8 individuals. If a "true" rowhouse was just individual houses that happen to butt up against one another, then any set or style of homes anywhere that happen to touch one another could be called a rowhouse. Hmm, this is getting a little confusing:haha:

[village person]

As to the original purpose of the thread, surely there a whole new breed of townhomes and rowhouses in the suburbs that don't live up to the style or urbanity of the pre WWII rowhomes. I live in one and would never consider on par with what we're seeing here. However, there are many rowhouse style projects, especially new urbanist developements, that live up to both the style and form of their older cousins. Why discount these?

Simply because they're new. I may develop this into a larger project someday, and including new developments wouldn't be applicable to my field of study (historic preservation). Nor would it make the list any shorter (if new developments were included, I may have to say that J. Will is right. :P)

[Cirrus]

I think the answer here is to generate a list of "exempt" states, which would include the Northeast all the way south to include Virginia, and midwest to include... oh, probably Ohio and Kentucky, but not Indiana.

[village person]

That's how these buildings in Detroit are. It is possible for individuals to own each unit. I rented a unit that was in one building with 8 units across the front, and each unit was owned by 8 individuals. If a "true" rowhouse was just individual houses that happen to butt up against one another, then any set or style of homes anywhere that happen to touch one another could be called a rowhouse. Hmm, this is getting a little confusing:haha:

Well, in a way, you're right. I tried to avoid defining row house, but at the same time I have used the term loosely to describe the type of housing I'm looking for. If this gets further into semantics, I'll just edit out the term "row house," which doesn't have an exact definition, and replace it with something more descriptive. "Attached single-family" or whatever. I'll just have to get a mod to edit the title, too. If it comes to that. :shrug: Basically, the various types of housing of which pics have been posted thus far fit the profile of what I'm looking for. Whether they should be called row houses or something there isn't a term for is not critical.

[village person]

I think the answer here is to generate a list of "exempt" states, which would include the Northeast all the way south to include Virginia, and midwest to include... oh, probably Ohio and Kentucky, but not Indiana.

I like this idea, though I'd like to not exclude possible transitional areas of those states which have a lot of examples. For example, Indiana and Ohio: is the state border the best place for the cut-off, or should part of Ohio be included or part of Indiana excluded? Maybe I'm just trying to make it too complicated. :)

[J. Will]

"The same can be said of your assumptions. Alright?"

The same could be said about you as well. I'm assuming every city has some, you're assuming some cities have none.

[edsas]

Brain,

For Nebraska, you can add Omaha and Lincoln for sure. (No pictures, sorry, but they're there.) Grand Island's last holdouts were torn down about 4 years ago. Replaced by parking. They were actually nothing special, so it wasn't a huge loss.

EDIT: Hastings, NE still has a neighborhood of pre-WWII row houses. And they look nice, too.

[village person]

I'm assuming every city has some, you're assuming some cities have none.

:shrug:

[Jeff_in_Dayton]

I like this idea, though I'd like to not exclude possible transitional areas of those states which have a lot of examples. For example, Indiana and Ohio: is the state border the best place for the cut-off, or should part of Ohio be included or part of Indiana excluded? Maybe I'm just trying to make it too complicated.

I sort of have an interest in vernacular architecture, so I am curious as to what you are trying to get at here, given your stated interest in history?

Are you trying to explore some sort of historical cultural diffusion, or what?

BTW, here are few more from SW Ohio, Miamisburg (also betw. Dayton & Cincy)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/Jeff59c/Miamisburg%20II/35IMG_0728.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/Jeff59c/Miamisburg%20II/45IMG_0740.jpg

[Jeff_in_Dayton]

I like this idea, though I'd like to not exclude possible transitional areas of those states which have a lot of examples. For example, Indiana and Ohio: is the state border the best place for the cut-off, or should part of Ohio be included or part of Indiana excluded? Maybe I'm just trying to make it too complicated.

I sort of have an interest in vernacular architecture, so I am curious as to what you are trying to get at here, given your stated interest in history?

Are you trying to explore some sort of historical cultural diffusion, or what?

BTW, here are few more from SW Ohio, Miamisburg (also betw. Dayton & Cincy)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/Jeff59c/Miamisburg%20II/35IMG_0728.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v240/Jeff59c/Miamisburg%20II/45IMG_0740.jpg

[STLgasm]

St. Louis has rowhouses in abundance:

http://www.pbase.com/jivecity/image/33366760.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/jivecity/image/52544527.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/jivecity/image/39942878.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/jivecity/image/21412081.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/jivecity/image/21412392.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/jivecity/image/21412545.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/jivecity/image/21518802.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/jivecity/image/21519036.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/jivecity/image/21519125.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/jivecity/image/29764282.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/jivecity/image/29764292.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/jivecity/image/32148263.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/jivecity/image/53892455.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/jivecity/image/25995941.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/jivecity/image/25996105.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/jivecity/image/25996525.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/jivecity/image/25996547.jpg

...And there are literally blocks upon blocks more of rowhouses of all eras and styles to be found throughout the city limits.

[village person]

^Thanks for the eye-candy. I live just 2 hours south of that now. :cool:

I sort of have an interest in vernacular architecture, so I am curious as to what you are trying to get at here, given your stated interest in history?

Are you trying to explore some sort of historical cultural diffusion, or what?

BTW, here are few more from SW Ohio, Miamisburg (also betw. Dayton & Cincy)



Well, the part you've quoted was just a response to what Cirrus said: that states with an abundance of locales-which-contain-row-houses could be excluded from the list altogether, just to focus more time and attention to those states where such towns and cities are less frequent and to lower the number of potential places in the list to make it more manageable.

At the moment, I'm just trying to compile a list, to see the distribution and frequency of this type of housing throughout the country. It's nothing deeper than that yet.

[CGII]

Milwaukee has a few, old and new.
True, but I'd hate to call it a rowhouse city. I can name maybe 3 or 4 clusters of rowhouses (usually no more than 3 in a row) in the entire city built prewar. Whatever large concentration of rowhouses there once was was mostly in downtown and today long demolished. We've got big duplexes instead of rowhouses, if you ask me. There is a healthy number of recent, modern townhomes, though.

The Milwaukee duplex is pretty close to a rowhouse given the definition/criteria stated at the start of this thread but they certainly aren't rowhomes. They are big, nearly identical buildings built up next to each other (though rarely touching) in rows of more than 3.

[Sulley]

Charleston, WV

[mrherodotus]

Rowhouse Pictures by herodotus (http://www.pbase.com/step2me/rowhouses)

[mrherodotus]

A few Pittsburgh examples.


Rowhouses.
http://www.pbase.com/step2me/image/69650404.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/step2me/image/69650470.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/step2me/image/69650511.jpg


These are "rows of houses", but not rowhouses.
http://www.pbase.com/step2me/image/69650450.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/step2me/image/69650366.jpg


Here are some city pics, with many rowhouses among them.

click here (http://www.pbase.com/step2me/urbanstreetscapes)

[Cirrus]

I like this idea, though I'd like to not exclude possible transitional areas of those states which have a lot of examples. For example, Indiana and Ohio: is the state border the best place for the cut-off, or should part of Ohio be included or part of Indiana excluded? Maybe I'm just trying to make it too complicated.Fair enough. I don't know about out west. For south I'd probably go ahead and include (er, exclude) all of Virginia. Dunno about North Carolina.

[Ex-Ithacan]

^^^ Wow mrherodotus, you certainly seem to have quite a few pictures of rowhouses. I'm guessing you have a bit of an interest in them, eh?

[Urban Zombie]

Seattle as requested...unfortunately I was only able to dig up a couple of shots of a couple of different complexes, even sadder is how much I sucked at taking pictures back then. Apologies about the raw-ass quality:

http://ct.pbase.com/o6/45/599045/1/70939657.MHlmrLm3.P1010373.jpg

http://ct.pbase.com/o6/45/599045/1/70939658.XPXRijsL.P1010377.jpg

http://ct.pbase.com/o6/45/599045/1/70939659.iRoi1zZv.P1030576.jpg

[Hoodrat]

some of the posts here are a shining example of just how few people actually read the point of these threads...

anyway besides that, maybe it would have been better to look at cities by regions and ask appropriate questions from there. Like, what city in the northeast does not have rowhouses... or what city in the southeast does, etc.


p.s. I'm surprised to see Seattle on that list. I've never seen any examples from there... anyone have pics?

There's probably some on Capitol Hill, but not a whole lot. Seattle fell in love with detached housing early on.

[Urban Zombie]

^Most are still in the Central District, but occassionally you'll find a few random complexes in other neighborhoods as well.

Anyway, see post #96 for a couple of pictures.

[Exodus]

A few Pittsburgh examples.


Rowhouses.
http://www.pbase.com/step2me/image/69650404.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/step2me/image/69650470.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/step2me/image/69650511.jpg


These are "rows of houses", but not rowhouses.
http://www.pbase.com/step2me/image/69650450.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/step2me/image/69650366.jpg


Here are some city pics, with many rowhouses among them.

click here (http://www.pbase.com/step2me/urbanstreetscapes)If the houses in the last two pics didn't have what little bit of space between them that they have, they could pass as rowhouses.

[Markitect]

Milwaukee has a few, old and new

True, but I'd hate to call it a rowhouse city.

Perhaps you've misread something. The question was not asking which cities could be considered "rowhouse cities," it was asking which cities have rowhouses. The amount of rowhouses a city has is irrelevant in this particular discussion.

Milwaukee has a few, old and new.