The barrio was named after Dalmacio Vélez Sársfield, the 19th century author of the Civil Code of Argentina, and a translator of Latin poems into Spanish.

It is a typical low-rise housing area, that like many others was mainly populated during the urban explosion at the beginning of the 20th century.

It is currently a middle-class neighborhood, among whose largely low-rise housing there are some small factories and warehouses.

The main avenue in the barrio, named after Juan B. Justo, runs over the stream.

The Maldonado was at one point a natural boundary for the city limits of Buenos Aires, before the towns of Flores and Belgrano emerged (which are now also barrios).