The residential streets of Old Town between North Avenue and Armitage contain some of Chicago's most intact 19th-century urban fabric: three-flats, workers' cottages, and small commercial buildings from the 1870s to 1900s, many rebuilt after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Menomonee, Eugenie, and Schiller Streets are particularly good for the concentration of surviving frame and brick domestic architecture.
The Old Town Triangle Historic District, designated in 1977, covers most of these streets and has prevented the kind of teardown and replacement that has affected other North Side neighbourhoods. Burton Place, the short block between Clark and Dearborn, is considered the finest block in the district. Good for an hour's walking away from the Wells Street commercial strip.