 The district encompasses the principal residential areas near the center of downtown.When first designated it included residences primarily on East Main Street and Church Street, as well as properties in the neighborhood south of East Main and east of Church; the 1985 expansion extended the district further east and west, to properties on Ashland Street and streets connecting it to Church Street to the west, and the properties along Pleasant Street, Cherry Street, and adjacent streets to the east of Church Street.Church Street, the area's principal route, was laid out about 1780, and is one of the city's oldest roads.