For your novel- create a mythical street just off a historical one. That is done all the time and not disruptive to the reader at all. At some point, have an expert or two fine-tune the historical accuracy in your novel. Many times the historical accuracy editing can be completed with a single adjustment here or there to explain what would be otherwise an interruption. I think that what you are after is to propel the reader into the historical era and then engage him/her in the story being told with the history as background. I can’t help but think of the plot in ‘Somewhere in Time’ when Christopher Reeves has transported himself into the past to meet his true love (Jane Seymour). He did this via concentration/meditation in surroundings of the past he wanted to visit, including wearing a Victorian era suit he had purchased in a pawn shop. And it worked! He jumped back in time, met Seymour, fell in love, but alas there was that impervious 1979 dated penny that was in one of the pockets of the Victorian jacket. He pulled it out by chance, realized what it was, the spell broke and that was that. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSfcpJb_J38&feature=related .
So the trick is to get the reader back in time- and keep them there without some misplaced or ill-timed 1979 penny breaking the spell. Leaning on a historical expert or two will help guard against this. I would also encourage you to see movies of the era and about the era that you are writing about—not because they are typically accurate but your reading audience will expect them to be. Therefore, it will help you know what historical points will need to be emphasized and what historical myths may need to be countered via a paragraph here or there.
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