Henry Camfield, who emigrated from England to the Swan River Colony in 1829, with two indentured servants and their families, was granted 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) of land opposite Claisebrook.

The peninsula became Burrswood Island in 1841 when Burswood canal was cut to offer a more direct route to Guildford, which had previously been encumbered by mud flats.

A statue of Henry Camfield is located in Burswood Park surrounding the entertainment complex today.

The Western Australian Turf Club took over both in 1945, purchasing it from the estate of Albert Edmund Cockram, and closed Goodwood.

[5] Efforts were made to establish a residential district at "Riversdale Estate", but the use of Burswood Island as part of a sewerage filtration system (1906–1934) and the existence of various light industries from the 1910s onward worked against development.

Burswood is bounded by the Swan River to the west, north and north-east; Graham Farmer Freeway, Great Eastern Highway and the Armadale railway to the east, and Shepperton Road and Harper Street to the south.

A new 18 hole course was opened in 1987 and closed in 2013 amid controversy, to make way for construction of Perth Stadium and a new hotel.

Buses from the Victoria Park transfer station along Great Eastern Highway and Craig Street service the area.