Marshall Park became a public park in Ocean Springs after planning began in 1911 through the Ocean Springs Civic Federation. In April 1911, Charles Marshall, superintendent of the New Orleans and Mobile Division of the L & N Railroad from 1886 to 1917, authorized the Federation to steward land west of the L & N Depot for one dollar per year and create a community show place, and the Federation named the park in his honor for his civic involvement. Public use began in August 1911 with walking paths, antique seating, and water faucets, and an iron fence made from railroad boiler tube sections protected the grounds from free-range livestock. At the center stood the original covered bandstand, where a local brass band gave weekly summer evening concerts in the early years. Around the late 1920's, the bandstand was moved to Old Fort Bayou at the Bayou Inn, now Aunt Jenny's Restaurant, and during World War II it was rented for twenty-eight dollars per month as a home for a young aviator and his family during a critical housing shortage. In 1972, citizens organized to protect Marshall Park, and in 1974 Eleanor Bradford Lemon purchased the property. In 1989, the old bandstand was donated and returned to the center of the park, and the Historic Ocean Springs Association held a Strike Up the Bandstand fundraiser and soon began rebuilding it. In 1998, Mrs. Lemon donated the park to the City of Ocean Springs and gave the Historic Ocean Springs Association a forty year lease for its stewardship, continuing efforts to preserve the park's historic charm and its place at the heart of the city.