The park takes its name from the history of the area, the latter having already been appointed Faubourg Sainte-Marie and Faubourg Québec. This sector of the city was, the 19th and 20th centuries, the backbone of the industrialization of Montreal and the port. During this period, the population had to deal with the smell of hops, tobacco and molasses. The smell of the sugar cane by-product earned the area the nickname suburb to molasses.