The city is located southwest of St. John's, on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland.

In her will, she left John Lester 100 acres (0.40 km2) of land called "Anna Vale", (present day Glendale) which he later sold.

John Lester purchased other land (124 acres opposite the Pearl Estate on Brookfield Road) from Edward Dunscomb and later inherited another 50 acres (200,000 m2) on Old Placentia Road (present day Admiralty Wood) from Pearl's sister, Eunice Blamey.

John Lester died in 1893 leaving his estate, called "FairMead", to sons Ashton and James.

A large open air gallery, with benches for spectators to view surrounding lands was erected on "The Mount" in the 1940s.

Horseracing continued to be prominent and Mount Pearl began to develop into something of a summer resort for St. John's residents.

On July 21, 1988, the Town of Mount Pearl became the third community in Newfoundland and Labrador to be granted city status.

Southlands, a neighbourhood in St. John's was a large part of Mount Pearl's future growth plans[clarification needed] for filling in the area between its boundary and Cochrane Pond Provincial Park.