About 2 acres (0.81 ha) in size, it is a grassy area, dotted with trees, and criss-crossed by paved walkways.

The central obelisk is a memorial to railroad baron and mayor of Pensacola William Dudley Chipley.

The plaza forms part of a street plan laid out in 1765, when Pensacola was the capital of the British colony of West Florida.

Originally the central park of that plan was somewhat larger, but significant portions were subdivided and sold off in 1802, when West Florida was again a Spanish colony.

A formal ceremony was held in St. Augustine on July 10, in which the chief United States representative was Jackson's deputy, Robert Butler.