The Compton Heights subdivision opened for development in 1890. Most of the original residents were first or second generation German-Americans of wealth and influence.

German-American architects, such as Ernst C. Janssen, Otto J. Wilhelmi, Charles N. Breitenbach, and William B. Ittner, and contractors like John B. Westermayer, Louis G. Hormann, Frederick Schroeder and the Remmer brothers constructed many of the homes.

Julius Pitzman laid out Longfellow and Hawthorne boulevards, the most prominent streets in the subdivision.