Evidence of Native American settlement is given by a shell mound noted in 1910 near present-day Harney Way, just south of Bayview Park, by Nels C.

[1] Although the mound was leveled during subsequent land development, later auger tests suggest significant and intact shell midden deposits continue to exist below grade.

[4] The hill and land that would become Bayview Park were granted to José Cornelio Bernal as part of the Rancho Rincon de las Salinas y Potrero Viejo by Governor Pro tem Manuel Jimeno in 1839.

[16] The Board of Health, however, adopted a resolution calling for the Pattridge site in March 1902, saying the existing buildings could be reused and again citing the remoteness of the Bay View parcel.

[18] Based on the budget set aside for the new hospital, the city offered $800 per acre for a 7-acre (2.8 ha) tract,[19] which The Bay View Land Company promptly rejected, saying their minimum price was US$8,000.

[26] The Giants moved from New York to San Francisco in 1958, lured in part by promises from then-Mayor George Christopher to build a new stadium;[28][29] Candlestick Point was the site chosen, at the prompting of the landowner, Charles Harney, who had previously purchased the land from the City in July 1953.

[29] Harney had claimed the land was being sold to the city at below-market value as part of the condition that his construction company would be awarded a no-bid contract for the stadium and parking lot.

[30] Harney, the developer of the Park and lot, said that if the hill had been leveled to a height of 190 feet (58 m), enough fill would be produced to reclaim 250 acres (100 ha) from the Bay.

[30] During the first 1961 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Candlestick Park, Stu Miller was charged with a balk after he was caught by a gust of wind;[31] newspaper accounts would later state that he was blown off the mound.

[11][33] The 1 mile (1.6 km) paved loop path to and around the top of the hill serves as an extension of Key Avenue,[11] screened from motorized traffic by a metal gate.