The North East neighborhood is bounded by Spring Grove Cemetery to the south, the railroad yards to the east, and Keney Park to the north and west.

The area north of the cemetery was mostly farms until the purchase of Keney Park, which was established in 1896 through the efforts of Reverend Francis Goodwin, chairman of the Board of Park Commissioners. He had convinced Henry and Walter Keney, successful merchants, to will a large part of their property for a park. The Olmsted Brothers landscape architectural firm was hired to create a naturalistic theme. Once completed, the presence of the park inspired residential development nearby.

The area north of the Spring Grove Cemetery gradually developed along horse trolley lines as far as Capen Street. During the 1920's, the Tower Avenue area was built up, serving largely an upwardly mobile Jewish population.

From the 1890s the neighborhood has been primarily residential, with small tradespeople. However, some manufacturing was established, including the Bishop Ladder Company and The Fuller Brush Factory.

Located at 350 Barbour Street, the Hartford Circus Fire Memorial commemorates the site where 168 lives were lost on July 6, 1944 in one of the worst disasters in circus history. The memorial consists of a bronze medallion, inscribed with the names of those whose lives were lost, situated where the center pole of the tent was located. A brick plaza with granite seating encircles the medallion and a line of cottonwood trees mark the outer perimeter of the circus tent. The story of the circus fire is told by a series of tablets at the site.