[4] The area, whose name means "thorn fountain", was originally the southern part of a farm owned by Frederick Jacobus Bezuidenhout, and was proclaimed a public diggings after the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886.

In 1897 the freehold of the suburb was bought by the Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Company (JCI), owned by the mining magnate Barney Barnato.

[6] In his biography of Barnato, Harry Raymond wrote that "as a practical proof of his faith in the permanency of the Gold Fields of the Rand he decided to build a large home for his own dwelling place and tenders were called for its erection.

[6] Following the Anglo-Boer War, many of the wealthier residents moved north to Parktown, and Doornfontein, or "Doorie", became home to many Jewish immigrants.

During the Great Depression large parts of Doornfontein were bought up by property speculators and turned into slum housing or "yards".

[5] At the Arena, Manim formed a theatrical group, The Company with Danny Keogh, Barney Simon, Vanessa Cooke and Janice Honeyman.

The area had undergone substantial transport renewal in 2008 in preparation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in soccer, especially the introduction of a key route of the new rapid transit bus system.