The subsequent arrival of manufacturers attracted laborers, and the growing population prompted the city to develop a central water supply: a 120-foot steel standpipe in the center of the park block.

[3] In 1903, a wooden, Victorian-style bandstand was built on the east side of the park to host the summer concerts of Marshfield's 135th Medical Regiment Band.

City leaders managed the shell's construction as a public works project aimed at employing local men displaced from their jobs by the Depression.

[3] The dome-shaped ceiling of the new band shell, an idea borrowed from indoor theaters to improve acoustics, afforded a more focused, amplified sound.

[3] Ninety years later, the Marshfield Civic Band still performs free concerts on Wednesday evenings in summer, with the audience circled around on wood benches under the trees.

In 1932, some 6,000 local farmers rallied at the band shell as part of a nationwide strike, demanding increased produce prices that reflected the cost of production.