Los Angeles County purchased 15 acres on the property east of Lake Boulevard, between Concha and Mount Curve, in 1921. It was first used as a nursery for trees and vegetation, eventually producing more than one million trees for mountain and watershed area rehabilitation.

In 1939, the park was named after Charles S. Farnsworth and in 1943, the community building was named the William D. Davies Memorial Building. In 1957, the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation took over the operation of the Davies Building. In 2008, a Task Force was formed to identify and accomplish much-needed repairs at the park, and overall, there were 142 refurbishment projects achieved while carefully preserving the historic aspects of the park.