 The placenames are associated primarily with individual wooden houses, built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, some of which are still scattered among the apartment buildings.A military garrison was built in the approximate location of the modern "Šiaurės miestelis" ("North Town", that is, north of Old Vilnius) section of Žirmūnai by the Russian Empire during the 19th century.This area went on to be used as a garrison by a number of armies