Fellside lies on land that once made up the farm called Klipfontein, one of many large farms that make what is Johannesburg and its suburbs. The suburb was proclaimed in 1904.[2]: 163 No houses were built before 1910 and the suburb's name possibly originates from the African City Properties Trust's founder, Sir Arthur Fell.[3]
The houses tend mostly to be single storey houses originating from the 1920s.[4]: 281 Unity Street is lined with mature plane trees.[4]: 417
^Leyds, Gerald Anton (1964). A History of Johannesburg: The Early Years. Nasional Boekhandel. p. 318.
^Raper, Peter E.; Moller, Lucie A.; du Plessis, Theodorus L. (2014). Dictionary of Southern African Place Names. Jonathan Ball Publishers. p. 1412. ISBN9781868425501.