Memorial Park was likely established during the 1920s. The neighborhood in which Memorial Park is located was still open space during the early years of Albany’s history, and one long-time resident recalled hunting squirrels in the area now occupied by the park and finding abundant mushrooms after a rain. Another resident, interviewed during the early 1980s when she was 90 years old, recalled that the area where Memorial Park is today was, around 1912 when she married, a “beautiful meadow – little chipmunks had their holes everywhere – little owls and jackrabbits.”
The centerpiece of the park, the Veterans Memorial Building, was built between 1931 and 1933. This grand Spanish vernacular building was one of 10 similar memorials designed by Alameda County Architect Henry Meyers. A monument outside the Veterans Memorial building is dedicated to Albany’s World War veterans and dated 1926. A large stone fireplace in the park’s picnic area is dated 1933.
Historical architects have suggested that the Veterans Memorial Building is potentially eligible for listing in the California Register of Historical Resources. It still has most of its original features -- tile roof, Spanish tile accents, grand main hall with stage, etc.