The land that the park occupies was originally part of an eleven league (about ) grant that Mexican land speculator Santiago Del Valle purchased from the government of Mexico. Samuel May Williams acquired ten leagues (about ) of the grant from del Valle and sold the land to Michel Branamour Menard who in turn sold nine leagues (about ) to Thomas F. McKinney in 1839. McKinney did not move to his land until 1850 and took two years to build a stone house and barns. He also built a water-powered flour gristmill in 1852. The mill was destroyed by a flood in 1869 and the house by a fire in the late 1940s. McKinney lived on the land ranching and raising thoroughbred horses until his death on October 5, 1873. McKinney's wife, Anna, sold small parcels of land to relatives, and in 1885 she sold most of the land to James W. Smith.