Opened in 1876 to celebrate the first centenary of the American Declaration of Independence, it is named from Boston, Massachusetts- the scene of the Boston Tea Party of 1775. Boston Castle which stands in its grounds was constructed as a hunting lodge in 1775 by the Earl of Effingham to mark his opposition to British attempts to crush that revolution. The park was known as Rotherham Recreation Ground or the People's Park, the first of it kind in the town. The park was built on the site of an old sandstone quarry. Sanderson's map of 1835 shows the area as partly wooded. The quarry face near the bowling green incorporates the doorway from the medieval College of Jesus formerly in the town centre. This polygon covers the area that was formerly a sandstone quarry.