[9] There was only one known marked grave on Deadman's Island, that of Canadian mariner John Dixon; he was buried in 1847 by the VII King's Foot with a temporary marker, which was "renewed" in 1895 by the 1st Royal Berkshire Regiment.

[10] According to a local legend, Dixon had fallen in love with the daughter of a British colonel, who upon discovering their romance had him sent to Melville Island prison where he committed suicide; however, this story is likely false.

[14] In the late 1960s the land was annexed to the city of Halifax, but a proposed high-rise apartment met with protest from the Northwest Arm Community Planning Association.

[18] The city hired historian Brian Cuthbertson to evaluate the heritage claim, and his report concluded that the site could hold as many as 400 bodies (in contrast with the 35 suggested by the developer's preliminary survey).

[18] The development application was withdrawn in late 1998, and in February 2000 Deadman's Island Park was established by the Halifax Regional Municipality to protect the site and commemorate its historic significance.

[19][20] A memorial service for the American Prisoners of War buried there was held 23 June of that year by members of the U S 164th Civil Engineering Sqn, Tennessee Air National Guard, Memphis, TN.

The park was created in 2005 to protect the property from development as it is the location of the unmarked graves of 195 American soldiers and sailors who died in British captivity during the War of 1812 at a prison on nearby Melville Island.

An interpretive plaque in the park contains the following anonymous poem: The dead were among the more than 8,000 American captives imprisoned for various periods of time on Melville Island, now part of the Armdale Yacht Club.

The property was subsequently acquired by the Municipality as a result of the collaborative efforts of the Northwest Arm Heritage Association, the Ohio Society of the War of 1812 and the Royal Canadian Legion.