It began as a medieval small suburban linear settlement near a farm and public grazing area green, and dates to the early 19th century.
In the early 20th century, it grew rapidly in response to the opening of a tube station of the London Underground, adjacent to the Golders Green Hippodrome which was home to the BBC Concert Orchestra for many years.
The area has a wide variety of housing and a busy main shopping street, Golders Green Road.
Hendon Park Row (c. 1860s) is of this period, and consisted of around thirty small dwellings built by a George Stevens, which were, with two exceptions, demolished around 1956.
A small dame school and prayer house run by Anglican deaconesses existed in the 1890s and 1900s, and developed to become St. Barnabas (1915).
By the end of the 19th century there were around 300 people living in the area, which included a laundry and a small hospital for children with skin diseases.
A significant moment in Temple Fortune's development into a suburban area occurred in 1907, when transport links were vastly improved by the opening of Golders Green Underground station.
Temple Fortune Farm was demolished and along the front of the road the building of the Arcade and Gateway House (c. 1911) established the Hampstead Garden Suburb's retail district.
Nationally it votes for the MP for seat of Finchley and Golders Green, which encompasses the parts of the NW11 and NW2 postcode districts it contains.
[4] The same boundaries are used for the Golders Green, Childs Hill and Garden Suburb wards of the Metropolitan Police Service.
[8] There has been a prominent Jewish community in Golders Green since the early 20th century following the building of the station at the end of the Hampstead railway.
Golders Green is home to a growing Japanese, Korean and East Asian community[10] with many families living in the district[11] being catered for a notable number of restaurants and shops specialising in Japanese, Korean and other East Asian food, such as the Seoul Plaza supermarket.
Golders Green has restaurants with many cuisines including Indian, Israeli, Thai, Turkish, Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Italian eateries.
The Golders Green Unitarian Church, built in 1925 on Hoop Lane, is Grade II listed; Historic England singles out for mention a "notable temera mural by Ivon Hitchens", among other works.
The congregation seceded from Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel (Hampstead) in 1903 but took a generation to build its own place of worship.
[20] St Ninian's Presbyterian Church on Helenslea Avenue was built in 1911 by T. P. Figgis, noted for designing stations on the Northern line.
Close to the park, also adjoining the West Heath is the Hill, a formal garden with an extensive and imposing pergola.
Nearby Golders Green Crematorium has an extensive garden with features such as a special children's section and a pond, in keeping with the distinct Italianate air.
George Harrison recorded an unreleased track titled "Going Down to Golders Green" during the sessions for his acclaimed triple album All Things Must Pass.