The Riverway was continually developed through the late 1870s and 1880s, alongside the Back Bay Fens, as part of Frederick Law Olmsted's "Muddy River Improvement" project. Like the Back Bay Fens, the Riverway was crafted to treat the polluted waters of the Muddy River and to mitigate the impacts of future flooding. In his writing, Olmsted described the park as “passages of rushy meadow and varied slopes from the upland; trees in groups, diversified by thickets and open glades.” While the Riverway is dominated more by trees in the modern era, occasional clearings provide places to sit, picnic, and people-watch throughout the park. The park was completed in 1895. The park received a major renovation in the early 2020s through Phase 2 of the Muddy River Restoration Project, which dredged portions of the Muddy River and removed dense strands of invasive plant species from the river's edge and the park's margins.