The land that Macleay Park sits on once belonged to Donald Macleay, a Scotsman and prominent merchant in Portland. Macleay could often be heard complaining about the price of property taxes on his land and how he would rather donate the land to the city and have it be made into a park than pay such exorbitant taxes. After finally being countered by a friend with, "Well, then, why don't you?" he donated the land to the city in 1897 in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of Queen Victoria's reign. It was one of the earliest parks in Portland.