Marshall Heights was slow to develop. Much of the neighborhood remained forested countryside in 1900, with only a few dirt tracks providing access to it. There was no city-provided drinking water; the neighborhood's few residents used a local stream for drinking, cooking, and cleaning water. Most streets were not actually graded by the city until 1918, with District engineers using heavy cuts through hilly areas and extensive, deep fills in valleys to complete the street grid. The grid-like street design created significant problems for homebuilders here: Some homes were constructed on the edge of steep banks in order to have access to the street, while others were as much as below street level. By 1915, much of the area had been illegally settled by poor African Americans, who built shacks out of scavenged and discarded building materials. This led the area to be nicknamed "Shantytown" by D.C. residents. After World War I, the real estate developers who had inherited or purchased various blocks of land in Marshall Heights began selling it off at low prices. Since there were no housing covenants excluding blacks from owning property there, large numbers of African Americans began purchasing lots in Marshall Heights.