The character was also the subject of a popular song written by Billy Rose and Con Conrad in 1923. The designation Barney Google Row may have functioned as a humorous, a denigrating, or a dismissive characterization of residents in terms of a comic strip character who came from a poor rural area, spoke a catchy vernacular slang, and was unprepared for the new circumstances of life in a city. Unfortunately, the association of residents with a comic strip character enabled public officials, the press, and citizens to depersonalize the issue of substandard housing, to think in terms of stereotypes rather than of human beings. These were the first buildings demolished following organization of the Lancaster Redevelopment Authority. Four are two room units and eight are three-room.
Water is provided in the kitchen space but no other conveniences of any kind are provided.
Sanitary facilities are located about twelve feet from back doors in a yard sixteen feet square. Buildings demolished 1957. Photograph from the Lancaster New Era , May 13, 1944. This Sanborn fire insurance map depicts Barney Google Row and its environs. The yellow indicates that the structures on the 700 block of Southeast Avenue were wood.