Cabbagetown's history began in the 1840's when thousands of Irish immigrants settled in the area after fleeing potato famines in their homeland. These first Cabbagetown residents were very poor; to put food on the table they grew cabbages on their front lawns, which is how this historic district came to be known as Cabbagetown.

Cabbagetown's working class community was particularly hard hit by the depression in the 1930's. Cabbagetown historian Hugh Garner wrote that the depression turned Cabbagetown into "the worst Anglo Saxon slum in North America". The worst slums were concentrated south of Gerrard Street. These homes were razed in the 1950's and then replaced by the Regent Park housing development.

Cabbagetown was revitalized in the 1970's and 1980's by new home buyers who restored much of the neighbourhood's fine collection of classic Victorian homes. Cabbagetown is now considered one of Toronto's most gentrified neighbourhoods.