The All-Russia Exhibition of 1896 changed the street. In the area of the Unity Square and the Pokhvalinsky descent, funiculars were built. Opposite the Oksky Pontoon Bridge, a power station appeared that provided the city with electricity. 21 June 1896 in Nizhny Novgorod was opened tramway. The line, 3.5 versts long (3.7 kilometers or 2.32 miles), passed from Skoba (Unity Square) to the bridge, connecting both funiculars. At the opening of the exhibition on Rozhdestvenskaya Street, the houses of the Blinov brothers' merchants (Blinovsky Passage) and the stock exchange were built. Both buildings adorn the current Markin Square.