Around 1870, an old section house, a frame shed that provided security and weather protection for track maintenance tools, stood on this property and was owned by the L&N Railroad. At that time, the depot and retail businesses surrounded the section house, and in 1908 community members asked the railroad to improve the property's appearance. In 1913, the land was donated to the city, and Mount Vernon Women's Club founder Miss Mary Rose McCord took the lead in beautifying it. Miss McCord was the principal of the Langdon Memorial School, chairwomen of the Good Roads Project, and was active in town progress until 1915, when she was transferred to another mission school. In 1948, a large limestone rock from the local quarry was placed at the park with a plaque to honor Miss McCord's efforts. During the Great Depression in the United States, between 1935 and 1943, the WPA, or Works Progress Administration, provided eight million jobs and local WPA workers built the existing Triangle Park stone wall.