Mitchelltown (around Holloway Road) is situated in a gully at the western end of Aro Valley. It was founded by Henry Mitchell, who constructed small cottages for unskilled workers – mainly watersiders and casual labourers – in the 1870s. By the 1950s it was run down, and developed into a student and bohemian enclave. Since the 1990s Mitchelltown has started to become gentrified, but still retains its offbeat character.