[2][3] The present name, Djurgården, stems from the game park of King John III, which he declared the intention to realize in February 1579 to keep deer, reindeer, and elk.

[4] The western waterfront of the island was a small scale shipyard during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, after which the Navy erected some 30 sheds for the winter quarters of galleys in the area.

Plans to relocate the shipyard in the beginning of the 20th century were interrupted by World War II, which meant the activities grew considerably instead, culminating in 1945 when 1,280 people were employed.

[2] Many structures on the western part of Djurgården date back to the Stockholm World's Fair of 1897, including Djurgårdsbron, the main bridge to the island.

[5] In what is today the southern part of the amusement park Gröna Lund and east of it, a private shipyard was developed from 1735 by the merchant Efraim Lothsack, who also had several new residential buildings built.

The activities grew during the 19th century under the managership of John Burgman and Adolf Fredholm, of which the former had the church, Djurgårdskyrkan, and the school, Djurgårdsskolan, built.