Buchanan's North and West neighborhoods began in 1842, when mill owner John Hamilton platted Buchanan, and many early residents worked in milling. Later nineteenth- and twentieth-century industries, including Zinc Collar Pad, furniture factories, Electro-Voice, and Clark Equipment, spurred growth. Residents held diverse occupations and civic interests and included city leaders, merchants, teachers, executives, and industrial and skilled workers. Civic work included planning the 1923 Buchanan High School, and in the 1920s Katherine Kingery led the effort to convert an abandoned cemetery into a playground. Twentieth-century automotive designer Virgil Exner grew up here. From the 1840s to 1961, across three distinct eras, residents built their homes in more than twenty architectural styles, especially Italianate, Gable Front and Wing, Prairie, Arts and Crafts, various Revivals, Bungalow, and Ranch. The district was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.