Bannerman Park was first established as a botanical garden on July 23, 1847, on the barrens between Government House and Rawlin's Cross.

The garden had been criticized as being too small for the establishment of a proper park, however Bannerman granted access to additional land, both public and private, on the south side of Circular Road.

1891, Council opened a design competition for the laying-out of the park as a formal garden with submissions due on the 29th of the same month and a prize of $50.

[7] The design, among other things, included plans for a lake or plot inscribed with the shape of the island of Newfoundland to be installed behind the Colonial Building.

Between 2012 and 2015 "new entranceways and water features were constructed", "Victorian-style amenities" installed, and planting and landscaping undertaken throughout the Park.

[11] Bannerman Park's current amenities include a baseball field, splash pad, outdoor swimming pool, skating loop, canteen and washroom structure, bandstand, and memory garden.

[15] In 1978 British balloonists Donald Cameron and Christopher Davey embarked from the park on the eighteenth known attempt to cross the Atlantic Ocean by balloon.

Other notable events include Peace-A-Chord, a free one- and two-day music festival held in the park from 1985 to 2003 and 2005 to 2006.

Actors Wendi Smallwood, Monica Walsh, and Marie Jones delivered monologues while playing fictionalized versions of period figures including a housekeeper and sex worker.