It is bounded by Larpenteur Avenue on the north, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad tracks to the south, Dale Street to the west, and Interstate 35E to the east.

Beginning in 1857, Edmund Rice helped to establish and build the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad through his property, which forms the southern border of the North End.

Large employers located along the railroad corridor, including the Jackson Street Roundhouse and the former Saint Paul Foundry, now the Empire Builder Business Park.

Rice Street, which had its origins in rough trails used by the fur trade, gradually became a major commercial and transportation corridor, with horsecar and later electric streetcar service as far north as Ivy Avenue.

The neighborhood became a traditional entry point for successive waves of immigrants to Saint Paul, including Romanians, Bohemians, Hungarians, Irish, and especially southern Germans.