[2] The area was identified as a 14-acre public park when the Riverside section was platted along the St. Johns River in 1869.

Some time after 1890, a carriage lane and walking paths were created, stone bridges were constructed, and ornamentals were planted, including camphor trees.

When Margaret Street was laid out, it cut off the southwest corner of the park, and the north side of the property was used by Interstate 95, reducing the parcel to its current 11.4 acres.

A city-owned brick storage warehouse was constructed on the park property along College Street in 1940, which is no longer used.

The Riverside Avondale Preservation (RAP) group, founded in the mid-1970s, made numerous park improvements over the years, and when high winds uprooted and toppled 52 trees in 1997, city employees and RAP volunteers worked together to restore the park.