South Prospect Street is a 19th and early 20th century residential neighborhood located along the crest of a hill. The street stretches for three blocks and is lined with more than fifty structures representing America's varied and strong architectural heritage. The buildings line a tree-shaded avenue and express a uniformity of quality and scale which ties South Prospect Street into an important urban streetscape. Although many of the buildings have been adapted for purposes other than the original uses and some have undergone renovations, most of the structures and the street as a whole still retain the environmental quality characteristic of the area in the early 1900's. It is the variety of architectural styles that gives South Prospect Street its strongest and most significant character. The styles represented include Neoclassical, Classical Revival, Gothic Revival, Italianate, Second Empire and Queen Anne. The only non-domestic buildings are the St. John's Episcopal Church and the First Presbyterian Church. Both churches were erected in the early 1870's and are Gothic Revival stone structures.

South Prospect Street is said to have been opened in 1832 by William D. Bell who widened a small alley into the present street. Antietam Street is spanned by a bridge, known locally as the "dry bridge," with an ornamental metal railing and a flight of masonry steps leading down to the lower street. The bridge was rebuilt in the summer of 1976. The railing appears to date from the early 1900's and bears the name "B.F. Null and Son, Hagerstown." Although the street has been paved in recent years, many of the early brick sidewalks still remain.