For many decades, this block of Front Street known locally as Greasy Street was the center of commercial activity for African Americans in the Ruleville area and a major gathering place for shopping, recreation, and blues music. Front Street was the first commercially developed area in Ruleville, laid out in 1898 by J. W. Rule after the Yazoo Delta Railway, known as the Yellow Dog, extended northward from Moorhead. With the arrival of the train, the local population grew dramatically in town and on nearby plantations. Located a block south of the railroad depot and across the tracks from several cotton gins, Greasy Street drew plantation residents especially on Saturday afternoons and nights, when crowds filled the street and visited places such as Mack's Colored Cafe. Ruleville musicians and performers associated with Greasy Street included Charley Patton, David Honeyboy Edwards, and Howlin' Wolf, and Edwards recalled seeing Patton play there in the 1930s and later playing there with Howlin' Wolf. During the segregation era, the Annex Theatre catered to African Americans, and the block also included grocery stores operated by people of Chinese descent, including businesses opened or run by Jim Kee, Kan and May Jee, and James Jee. Saturday night juking remained lively there longer than in many Delta towns through nightspots such as Club 21, Top Ten Club, Main Event, Jap's Disco, and especially Club Black Castle, which also housed Mr. Fugee's Bar and Grill. The Ruleville area also produced or was home to other musicians including Jimmy Rogers, Ben Maree, Hayes Ware, Jeanne Carroll, Jerry Duff Dorrough, Olin Grandad Hughes, Clyde Richardson, Fruteland Jackson, and Peaches Staten.