It was originally named for Michael Broderick (died 1951), one of the founders of the West Side Rowing Club, which had a clubhouse on the southern point of Unity Island until 1975, when it was destroyed by fire.

[6] Freedom Park, following an elongated shape, is located on the southern tip of Unity Island between the Niagara River and the Black Rock Canal.

[8][6] These activities were particularly precipitated by the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, which to some measure brought about the nationalizing of some of the consequences of the slavery practiced in the Southern states, and hence the increased flow of African-Americans travelers seeking liberty in Canada.

In the 1990s, reenactments and commemorations of Underground Railroad events were regularly held at Freedom Park under the sponsorship of Buffalo Quarters Historical Society.

[6][10] Freedom Park — visibly close to the Peace Bridge — has sometimes been used as a backdrop to public meetings on subjects of law and administrative reform as they relate to cross-border issues.