Around 1280 CE a leper hospital was founded in Dalston by the citizens of London and in 1549 it was attached to the chapel of St Bartholomew as an outhouse.

[3] During the 1930s, 1940s[4][5][6] and 1960s[7][8][9] the area's large Jewish and other minority populations made it a target for provocative rallies by Oswald Mosley and the various organisations he founded.

[11] In July 2017 a riot broke out on Dalston Road, which had originally started as a demonstration against police violence.

[12][13] The Ancient Parish of Hackney, of which Dalston was a part, detached from Stepney in the Middle Ages and had consistent boundaries from that time on.

[14][15] In 1900 the Metropolitan Borough of Hackney was formed, using the boundaries of the former parish, and it became part of the County of London.

St. Mark's is a large Victorian church primarily built in the period 1864–66 to a design by Chester Cheston.

It is a popular single-screen cinema located on Kingsland High Street, with a history stretching back over 100 years.

The hospital was initially founded to cater primarily for London's then large German-speaking community.

Centred on Gillett Square and 8 clubs in the surrounding area, it was founded by Andrew Bunsell of Dalston Studios.

Dalston hosts several art and entertainment venues, and has a history as an entertainment centre, with at one time hosting four or five cinemas within a radius of 1⁄3 mile (500 m), and the Dalston Theatre, a former hippodrome and music hall that later became the Four Aces blues club and the Labyrinth nightclub.

Kingsland Road and the surrounding streets are home to an ever-growing number of boutiques, bars and cafés.

Dalston has attracted immigrants for over 100 years; at the turn of the century it was a popular area for newly arrived Jewish people from central Europe.

Coincidentally both Barbara Windsor and Tony Holland, one of the original creators of the show, lived at different times on the street.

In April 2009 The Guardian published an article on Dalston claiming that it was the "coolest" place to live in Britain.

Direct connections to London's Zone 1 can be found at Hackney Central and Highbury & Islington stations.

The Regent's Canal towpath passes through neighbouring Haggerston, which runs unbroken from Limehouse to Angel, via Mile End.