[4] The land that is now Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens originally was purchased by Civil War veteran Walter B. Shaw in the 1880s.

[5][6] Feeling homesick, Shaw had wild waterlilies native to his home state of Maine brought and planted in the land.

The United States Army Corps of Engineers was called in to dredge the river which meant that the gardens were in danger of being destroyed.

[5] In 1942, the area of today's park located south of the gardens was selected by the congressionally-appointed DC government as the site for a municipal dump, in which trash was burned in open piles.

[9] The total area of the park is about 700 acres (2.8 km2) large and constitutes the water gardens, Kenilworth Marsh, ballfields, and recreational facilities.