Shotgun Houses
The shotgun house is often found in older St. Louis neighborhoods. This vernacular building type is probably a Caribbean house form that was brought to the American south in the 18th century by Caribbean traders and slaves. The building type proliferated throughout the south, especially in New Orleans, and settlers brought the type north through the Mississippi valley. Shotgun houses are single-story buildings with narrow front facades. There is no interior hallway: each room leads directly into the one behind it. Shotgun houses appear in frame with a front-facing gable, or in brick, with a hipped roof. Examples from this period can be found in Carondelet, Hyde Park and Old North St. Louis neighborhoods. (St. Louis, 1995)