Originally, much of what is now Ellendale was land owned by James E. Sutton, who died in 1877. He bequeathed his land to his nine children. Kate Thomas, one of his daughters, started Ellendale. Although an accident destroyed much of the housing built before the World's Fair in 1904, some old homes built after the fair, mostly for the executives of Scullin Steel, are still standing. The area began to grow residentially in the last years of the century, helped along by the electric streetcars, which began running to the area in 1896.