That designation is given to “a cohesive area that's significant for its architecture or its role in the growth of the community,” said Peg O'Leary, coordinator of the Grand Forks Historic Preservation Commission.

The Riverside area is significant for its “mechanics' cottages,” working-class homes with simple yet distinctive designs built in the '20s and '30s, O'Leary said, and for some homes of early residents dating back as far as the 1880s.

About 70 percent of private homes in the Riverside area - which stretches from near Seward Avenue north through Riverside Park and from North Third Street east to the Red River - are listed as “contributing elements” in the historic registry, as are the Riverside Pool and the park itself, O'Leary said.

Many homes in that area were lost during the 1997 flood, O'L eary said, but the remaining homes were sufficient to win the neighborhood the coveted federal status. The designation also comes with some requirements if the city uses federal money in the neighborhood, she said.

The Riverside neighborhood joins two other historic districts in town: The downtown district - which stretches from near Division Avenue northwest to University Avenue and from North Fifth Street northeast to the Red River - and the near south-side district - which stretches from 13th Avenue South north to the area of First Avenue South and from near Walnut Street east to the Red River.

The Grand Forks Historic Preservation Commission soon will apply for federal recognition of a “university core” historic district, O'Leary said, which would include the central area of campus between the English Coulee to Memorial Stadium and from the railroad tracks to University Avenue.

Marks reports on higher education. Reach him at (701) 780-1105, (80 0) 477-6572, ext. 105, or jmarks@gfherald.com.