The tour begins with a house most people pass without noticing. Its porch, brickwork, and narrow side lot look ordinary until a historian explains who built it, what kind of work paid for it, and how the block changed around it.

The route includes homes from several eras, which makes the differences useful. The city's growth appears in floor plans, building materials, and the distance between a front door and the street.

Organizers hope the tour makes preservation feel less like a conversation about grand landmarks. Much of a neighborhood's history lives in the modest buildings that held ordinary lives for a very long time.