Murphy encouraged settlers to the area and he donated the park to Glendale in 1909. Glendale residents closely protected the park, allowing only a public library to be built here (the first in 1917 and the current one in 1971). Motivated by patriotism in 1912, residents installed a 110-foot wooden flagpole in the park. The tallest flagpole in the state stood until 1964, that same year the Glendale City Council renamed the park for Murphy.