The area's location near the Swilken Burn (stream) may be the origin of the name, as haugh is a Scots word meaning a low-lying meadow by the side of a river.

[1] The development of the North Haugh campus began in 1960s during a major expansion of the University of St Andrews.

[2] The first building on the North Haugh campus was Andrew Melville Hall, designed by James Stirling and constructed in 1964–1967.

It was the first of the initially planned four residence halls to the same design to be built on the campus, but the three others have never been constructed.

It is also connected by a pedestrian walkway to Fife Park and David Russell Apartments, two student accommodation areas of the university.