Vauxhall is a district of south London, England. It was named for Falkes de Breaute, the commander of King John of England's mercenaries during the early 13th century; it's name evolved from "Faulke's Hall" to "Foxhall" and, eventually, "Vauxhall". Its pleasure gardens later opened as a public attraction, and this and the opening of the Westminster Bridge in 1740 led to Vauxhall's growth. By 1860, Vauxhall had been subsumed into Lambeth, and many of its streets were destroyed during the construction of the Waterloo Station line, by The Blitz during World War II, or by poor urban planning. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, Vauxhall boomed due to riverside construction and redevelopment, and several gentrified areas developed. Vauxhall also became a diverse community, with 40% of its residents being nonwhite (6% of them Muslim) and a large Portuguese community being present. From the 1990s to 2010s, Vauxhall was also home to a sizable underground gay community, but many of the underground clubs shut down due to gentrification; it soon became a commercialized gay village.
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