Danforth Avenue is named after Asa Danforth, an American contractor who built one of Upper Canada's earliest roads eastward from York in 1799. The road — and the strip of the city that grew along it — became accessible to Toronto's east end when the Prince Edward Viaduct (Bloor Street Viaduct) opened in 1918, bridging the Don Valley and stitching the Danforth into the city fabric.

Greek immigration in the postwar decades transformed the stretch east of the viaduct into 'Greektown,' one of the largest Greek communities in North America. The neighbourhood became famous for its exuberant outdoor dining culture, its Orthodox churches, and the annual Taste of the Danforth festival, which remains one of the city's largest street events. While the Greek community has dispersed somewhat over generations, the Danforth retains its identity as a warm, neighbourhood-scaled main street.