The community was located within the East Harbor Empowerment Zone of the Fells Point area, and was one of the oldest housing projects in southeast Baltimore.

The housing project tenants were about 91% African-American, 7% Puerto Rican, and 2% white prior to relocation and demolition.

[1][clarification needed] City Springs Elementary School is located at South Caroline and East Pratt Streets.

In 2019, the Housing Authority of Baltimore City received $30 million in federal funding to demolish Perkins Homes.

In Homicide: Life on the Street, fictional detective Al Giardello was raised in the Perkins Homes, as it was the neighborhood inhabited by his mother's side of the family.