The approximate boundaries of Fort Hill are Malcolm X Boulevard on the north, Washington Street on the southeast, and Columbus Avenue on the southwest.

[2] The geographic area comprising Fort Hill was strategically important during the American Revolutionary War and housed the patriot army defenses during the siege of Boston.

The First Church of Roxbury marked the starting point for the April 18, 1775 Midnight Ride by William Dawes who, along with Paul Revere, was dispatched by Joseph Warren to warn Lexington and Concord of the British incursion during the Revolutionary War.

The area comprising Fort Hill contained mostly country estates and farm and pasture land in the era preceding the American Revolutionary War.

[8] The district's height overlooking the land connection and its puddingstone outcroppings made it an advantageous location for the Continental Army to build fortifications.

In the summer of 1775, the Continental Army built two forts in the area as part of a circle of defenses that eventually enabled the evacuation of the British from Boston.

The Revolutionary War resulted in the destruction of many of Fort Hill's colonial-era buildings, and the Dillaway-Thomas is the only surviving pre-Revolutionary structure in the district.

Fort Hill has been recognized for its sizable population of residents with Irish, Puerto Rican, Dominican, German and Sub-Saharan African roots.

[12] Over the last decade Fort Hill has experienced an influx of professionals, artists and students, many of whom attend Northeastern University, Massachusetts College of Art and Design or Wentworth Institute of Technology.