From a nearby plaque placed by the Lumberton Bicenennial Committee:
This river bluff was dedicated for public use as "a Town Common" by John Willis, Esquire, on the orginal map of Lumberton in 1787. His "Red Bluff" plantation took its name from the high bluff, and his plantation buildings were located here until they were moved back to lots in the new town as it was created.
The bluff has remained in public use since its dedication. Located here were the wharves which served the extensive river traffic between Lumberton and the sea at Georgetown. The county jail built in 1866, a town jail, the town offices and the fire station have stood here.
After World War I the local American Legion Post built "The Legion Hut", which served as the town's principle meeting place and recreation center for forty years. The American Legion Auxiliary began the beautification and maintenance of the adjoining grounds. The river bluff was reclaimed in 1986 and developed as a Bicentennial Park.
In 1900 John Charles McNeill, "poet laureate of the Lumbee" described this spot as "a high bluff of the Lumber River, where that stream, describing a gentle curve and overhung by cypress, gum and maple, shows at its best." May it always remain so.
-Lumberton Bicentennial Committe, 1990