In 1878, James W. Beardsley, a wealthy farmer, donated over 100 acres of hilly, rural land bordering on the Pequonnock River with a distant view of Long Island Sound to the city of Bridgeport on condition that "the city shall accept and keep the same forever as a public park...." In 1881, the city contracted Frederick Law Olmsted, famous for creating New York City's Central Park, to create a design for Beardsley Park.