It comprises twenty-three blocks with ninety-six contributing structures. Contained within its boundaries are a significant number of Queen Anne style homes which served as residences for downtown merchants and professionals at the turn of the century. The area also has a cluster of bungalows and period revival homes which date from the 1920s.
As original Gainesville expanded, the southeast community grew east from Sweetwater Branch and the surrounding lands were agricultural, mainly planted with orange groves by the 1880s. Although the earliest developer in the area, James H. Roper, platted a seventeen-block area in 1877, the oldest house to survive from this period, the vernacular style Matheson House, was built in 1867 for local merchant James Douglas Matheson. It has remained in the Matheson family for over 120 years.
The destruction of the city's citrus groves during the freezes of the 1890s changed the agricultural emphasis in the area. Several prominent Gainesville businessmen like McCreary, Shands, Phifer, Dell, Colson and Vidal built homes along the south side of University Avenue and on Southeast Seventh Street and these remain today as showplaces for the district. The McKenzie house on University Avenue, an elaborate Queen Anne mansion, displays turrets and a veranda, while the asymmetrical Shands residence features many Neoclassical details. The Swearingen-Austin residence has an impressive two-story front porch and the Baird house remains Gainesville's only example of the elaborate French Second Empire style.
The establishment of the University of Florida and the success of the phosphate industry ensured economic prosperity through the 1920s. Although somewhat constricted by the industrial uses along Depot Avenue and the working class neighborhood of Spring Hill to the east, the southeast area attracted developers who built an enclave of modestly priced bungalows and period revival cottages in the Eastview subdivision (between Fourth and Fifth Avenues, bounded by Seventh Street). Identical in plans and materials, these one-story speculative homes had tile roofs, large entrance porches across the front face, small gables and Craftsman detailing.
Little development occurred from 1930 to 1950, though some infill homes, usually vernacular frame homes or bungalows, were constructed. After World War II, the area deteriorated as the large single-family residences were modified to accommodate multiple families or became rooming houses. The imposing brick Oddfellows Home and Sanitorium was razed in 1972. By the 1970s, with increased awareness of preservation values, several homes along University Avenue were rehabilitated and remodeled to serve as professional offices. Local preservationists like Mary Barrow and Katy Morgan restored residences in the area for apartment use; one downtown historic home, the Hodges residence, threatened by demolition, was moved into the area and beautifully renovated as four apartments. The tide had turned. Attracted by moderate prices and the charm of landscaped lots and diversely styled homes, young couples, single professionals and families entered the area and helped to further preserve the essential residential nature of the neighborhood. On January 14, 1988, the Southeast District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and be-came Gainesville's second local historic district.