From the c1850 map above, the plot marked '1' above was owned by Andrew Hogg who was a 'weavers' agent' or 'manufacturers' agent'. Plot '2' was owned by Robert Gibb a 'disabled seaman' whose daughters were hand loom weavers, while the plot marked '3' contained two houses and a weavers' shop, owned by James Thin but partly occupied by weaver James Peebles. Next along were weavers James Muir and George Grieg (4). Feu '5' stands out as being different - this contains 'Emsdorf House', a larger detached property, which was owned by Peter Smith, miller at the Cameron Bridge Mill. At '6' were weavers George Clark and Robert Mitchell.
While the south side of Emsdorf Street was largely occupied by weavers and their agents, the north side was more diverse. For example, plot '7' was owned by John Reid a nurseryman from Leith, while '8' was owned by Thomas Smith of the 'United States of America' - could these have been early holiday homes? The image below (taken late 1890s) gives an impression of the contrast between the fairly uniform south side of the street (left) and the more varied north side. Originally, many of the cottages would have had thatched roofs and the roads would have been rough and poorly drained (as recalled in an earlier post).