Bronson Park became the civic heart of downtown Kalamazoo through long use for public gatherings and quiet recreation, occupying the southern two of the original four public squares laid out in 1831 by Titus Bronson and Stephen Richardson. In the park's southwest quadrant stands a prehistoric hemispherical mound built by American Indian ancestors of unknown tribal affiliation, investigated several times after 1832, later altered for use as a root cellar near the jail, and revisited in the 1850s, about 100 years later, and again in 2019. The four squares, bounded by streets now known as West Michigan Avenue, South Rose, West South, and South Park, were set aside for public, county, educational, and religious use, helping attract the county seat and land office within a few years. By the 1840s and 1850s, the area included a courthouse, churches, a jail, and an academy, while the former jail square gradually became known as a park, first as vacant ground and pasture and then through fencing, walks, grading, and legal arrangements that secured its public use. In 1856, after title issues were resolved and the old academy building was removed, Abraham Lincoln delivered his only known public address in Michigan there in support of John C. Fremont. A ninety-nine-year lease in 1864 formally dedicated the land as a public park, it was named for Bronson in 1876, and major landscape improvements beginning in 1878 transformed it into a more formal setting with drainage works, trees, utilities, sidewalks, a fountain, and lamp posts. Although some activities were restricted in the 1880s as the grounds grew more stately, large public gatherings returned by 1884, and by 1900 the park featured a speakers' pavilion and bandstand as well as commemorative monuments.