The land was acquired for Kissena Park (then called Kissena Lake Park) between 1904 and 1914. The family of Samuel Bowne Parsons had sold off his nursery following his 1906 death. The nursery was located at the north end of the modern park at Parsons Boulevard and Rose Avenue. Real estate developers John W. Paris and Edward McDougal (or MacDougall) bought most of the Parsons land. This land was used to create the "Kissena Park" residential development. New York City bought the rest of the Parsons land and a few other land parcels to create Kissena Park. A tract of Parsons's exotic specimens was preserved and is now the Historic Grove.