[1] The ground where the park is now located was once part of a Crown land grant to the prominent merchant John Askin Sr.[2] It was later sold to Nathaniel Hughson Sr., then to James Durand, before coming into the possession of George Hamilton in 1816.

Before becoming a public space, the gore of land between King, James and John streets had served as a dump, lumber yard, and planned city market square in 1830s.

This original fountain was unveiled in 1860,[4] to commemorate the Royal tour of Queen Victoria's son and heir, Edward Albert.

[8] Until the summer of 2021, the park contained a memorial to Sir John A. Macdonald by George Edward Wade, c. 1893.

The statue of MacDonald was toppled by protesters following multiple discoveries of unmarked graves at former Canadian residential school sites.