The road, around 1.91 miles (3.07 km) long, served as the means to head north from downtown Portland before Tukey's Bridge, now on Interstate 295 (I-295), was built.

The parkway wraps around the west side of Back Cove estuary basin.

The parkway and roadway began as an initiative of Mayor James Phinney Baxter, for whom it is named.

Originally called the Back Cove Boulevard, the parkway opened in 1917.

[2] Tree planting began on the Boulevard in 1921 as a memorial to World War I victims.