Cornhill, Fleet, and East Streets In 1770, merchant and builder Charles Wallace subdivided this tract of land and developed it for craftsmen, tradesmen, shopkeepers, livery stables, and taverns. From the 1800s, white businessmen invested in building tenements or rowhouses for the African American working class. By the end of the nineteenth century, however, homeownership among these same families was significant. Many of the individuals in this neighborhood worked for the U.S. Naval Academy. The Ideal Hotel and drugstore at 14 Fleet Street was built in the 1920s to serve African American tradesmen and watermen from the City Dock.