Jan Arcer, a Dutch settler (who anglicized his name to John Archer),[5] established a community at what is now 225th Street near the Harlem River in 1666.

[6] Archer owned 3900 acres of land which Francis Lovelace, the colonial governor of New York approved for settlement.

The section's origins date back to about 1751, when Fordham Manor was built on what was called Rose Hill.

It was a minor rest stop for travelers and coaches, where many springs fed The Mill Brook that crossed this road.

During the American Revolution, it was a critical crossing point for Gen. George Washington's Continental Army retreating toward White Plains to safely escape from New York while being chased by the Colonial British and Hessian Forces.

Local farmers and dairymen were able to use the railroad to send their products to a growing New York City.

Part of the Mill Brook was dammed up north of the village, and a large pond and ice house were built for shipping and cold storage.

In 1838, a wealthy New York City Irish Catholic real estate magnate named Andrew Carrigan (1804-1872) bought the 100-acre Rose Hill estate, located east of the village, for the sole purpose of selling it to his close friend John Joseph Hughes (1797-1864), who at the time was coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of New York.

In 1846 Hughes deeded St. Joseph's College over to the Roman Catholic Jesuit Order (Society of Jesus) for $40,000, but retained title to the seminary property (about 9 acres of land).

[9] West of the village, on the other side of Fordham Hill, the Bathgate Estate was built; it was later acquired by wealthy stock speculator Leonard Jerome.

West of the station in the village area, the Fordham Hotel and Taverine would provide basic needs for visitors to the college and the racetrack.

[10][11] For the most part, Old Fordham Village remained rural until about 1900, when New York City began to expand.

Old Fordham Village and the surrounding area would become part of the borough of the Bronx within New York City.

Many remaining farms and estates were sold to developers who built houses and sizable apartment buildings.

[12] Fordham was a predominantly middle class White (of Irish and Jewish origins) neighborhood from the 1920s through the late 1970s, when many families moved to the suburbs or the Los Angeles area, or retired to Florida.

Its first growth was in the 1920s, when middle-class and working-class families from Manhattan flocked into the area, attracted by the then-modern housing and convenient subway access by Concourse, Jerome Avenue, and Third/Webster Avenues lines to business districts in Manhattan where they could work and shop.

[24] In 2018, an estimated 34% of Fordham South residents lived in poverty, compared to 25% in all of the Bronx and 20% in all of New York City.

[21]: 7  In 2018, an estimated 26% of Fordham North residents lived in poverty, compared to 25% in all of the Bronx and 20% in all of New York City.

[22]: 7  Based on this calculation, as of 2018[update], both areas are considered low-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying.

Fordham University maintains its historic original campus on much of the former Rose Hill Manor in the center of the neighborhood.

It is one of the largest "green" campuses in New York City, and its traditional collegiate gothic architecture often serves as a backdrop for television and film productions.

[21]: 14 [22]: 14 The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of air pollutant, is 0.0083 milligrams per cubic metre (8.3×10−9 oz/cu ft) in Fordham South and 0.0078 milligrams per cubic metre (7.8×10−9 oz/cu ft) in Fordham North, more than the city average.

[38] Fordham is divided into four ZIP Codes by the north-south Grand Concourse and the west-east East 183rd Street.

[21]: 6 [22]: 6  The percentage of Fordham South students excelling in math rose from 19% in 2000 to 43% in 2011, and reading achievement increased from 24% to 28% during the same time period.

[41] The percentage of Fordham North students excelling in math also rose from 21% in 2000 to 48% in 2011, and reading achievement increased from 28% to 33% during the same period.