The Erie and Champlain canals, and later railroads, expanded the city’s trade and population. This growth resulted in a housing shortage. In neighborhoods like Sheridan Hollow, flats often accommodated multiple families and boarders. Halls, stairways, and former kitchens became living spaces. It is estimated that five hundred people lived there during the course of the 19th century. Much of this new population were Irish immigrants and first generation Irish-Americans.

These were hard working people looking for better conditions than those they left behind. These poor immigrants were driven to live in the fringes of the city. Steep topography, poor drainage, insufficient infrastructure, and cheaply constructed housing made Sheridan Hollow more affordable, because no one else would live there.

Clay tobacco pipes often served as a vehicle for the expression of personal politics or ethnicity. Several pipe bowls recovered from the site were decorated with Irish-themed motifs.

This page from the United States Census of 1860 was done in the Sheridan Hollow neighborhood.