The neighborhood was principally a rural farming community up until the 1950's, when Highway 401 was built throughout the southern periphery of the Rouge.

In 1926, a real estate developer Cecil White created the "Rouge Hills" subdivision. This buildup was intended to be a unique summer playground, with grand country estates spread out along the Rouge River. "Rouge Hills" was never built however, a few of the cottages on Rouge Hills Drive and Ridgewood Rd are legacies of this subdivision.

In the early 1960's, with the opening of Highway 401, the first homes in this neighborhood along Sheppard Avenue were constructed.
However, the expansion of this neighborhood was not developed until the 1970's and 80's.

The urbanization of the Rouge neighborhood has remained into the 1990's, with the increasing of new residential subdivisions, a shopping center, schools, parks and a recreation center.