This home was built when the Central Pacific Railroad was laying tracks across the mountains and valleys from the West and the Union Pacific Railroad was laying tracks from the east to build the transcontinental railroad. In 1876, the year of Custer's Last Stand at Little Bighorn, it was one of only two dozen buildings surrounded by empty lots that faced this section of Cherokee Street. During the early 20th century, after the area had evolved from open land into a busy neighborhood, 1901 Cherokee was home to Dr. Emil Burst, a physician who had grown up over the corner saloon his father operated across the street.
