[1][needs update] A stretch in the neighborhood along NW 17th Avenue was nicknamed Little Santo Domingo in 2003, in an effort spurred by former Miami mayor and longtime city commissioner Wilfredo "Willy" Gort to honor the sizable Dominican American population in the community.

The initial settlement of the Allapattah community began in 1856 when William P. Wagner, the earliest documented white American permanent settler, arrived from Charleston, South Carolina and established a homestead on a hammock along the Miami Rock Ridge, where Miami Jackson High School presently stands.

Development ensued from 1896 and into the 20th century in the area with the completion of the Florida East Coast Railroad (FEC).

The neighborhood had been established at the end of the 19th century when the Florida East Coast Railroad built servicing facilities nearby.

The 1980s brought influxes of Dominican Americans, Nicaraguans, Hondurans, and Haitians in the aftermath of various refugee crises in those nations.

Allapattah is northwest of downtown, and about five miles (8 km) east of Miami International Airport.

Additionally, several shipyards and dry docks located along the neighborhood's banks of the Miami River.