The trapezoidal park, flanked by the lanes of United States Route 1 approaching the Memorial Bridge across the Piscataqua River, was established in 1926 and named for American Revolutionary War naval hero John Paul Jones.

[1] John Paul Jones Memorial Park is located between Hunter and Newmarch Streets in southern Kittery, just north of the Piscataqua River.

The two roadways carry one-way traffic in opposite directions, to and from the Memorial Bridge to Badger's Island and Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

The bridge was completed in 1923, and Governor Percival Baxter held a design competition for a suitable memorial.

The park was officially named for John Paul Jones by an act of the state legislature in 1927, somewhat obscuring the intent that it be a memorial to World War I soldiers.