The neighborhood developed between the 1890s and early 1900s and has a housing stock consisting mainly of smaller Victorian homes and bungalows.

Adjoining neighborhoods include Barelas to the west, Huning Highlands to the north, and San Jose to the south.

[2] South Broadway was platted in the 1880s, not long after the arrival of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway launched the development of what is now Downtown Albuquerque and the surrounding areas.

It was historically a diverse working-class community, with many of its residents employed at the nearby Santa Fe Railway Shops and Albuquerque Foundry and Machine Works.

[6] South Broadway was also the center of Albuquerque's African American community and was home to many Black-owned businesses as well as New Mexico's oldest Black church, Grant Chapel AME.