In the 19th century, H Street around North Capitol was the center of a small settlement called Swampoodle which became an entire neighborhood by the 1850s.

It played an important role in the construction of Washington, D.C. by providing the workforce needed to build projects such as Union Station.

[2] H Street was separated in two with the railway track where it intersected with Delaware Avenue when Union Station started to be built in 1907.

Thanks to involvement of the Northeast Washington Citizens' Association, the plan was changed to having a 750-foot (230 m) tunnel built to retain the connection between the two sides of the track.

[7] H Street NE went into decline after World War II and businesses in the corridor were severely damaged during the 1968 riots.

The street also passes Lafayette Park and through the George Washington University campus and the Foggy Bottom neighborhood before terminating at Rock Creek.

In its current form, it does not run consecutively for more than two blocks at any point except for its easternmost extremity, near Fort Dupont Park.