The Governor's Garden was located in the northeastern part of the Kremlin. To the north and northeast, its territory was bounded by the fortress wall, while on other sides, it was enclosed by a fence that ran along Ivanovsky descent and adjoined the guardhouse, the military governor's house, and service buildings.

Emperor Nicholas I, visiting the city in 1834-1836, ordered the construction of a new house for the military governor and the establishment of a garden in the adjacent area. To carry out this task, in 1836, court gardener Peltsel was sent to Nizhny Novgorod, tasked with developing the garden project for the specified location.

The garden by the military governor's house, as it was referred to in archival documents, essentially represented an estate park in the English style. The project planned to plant fragrant and silver poplars, linden trees, maples, rowans, oaks, ashes, spruces, hazelnuts, and various garden shrubs.

The work on the re-planning of the slope of Georgievskaya Mountain was carried out under Peltsel's guidance, who lacked technical knowledge and experience in construction. As a result, the system of pipes and gutters that diverted groundwater outside the Kremlin was destroyed. This led to flooding by underground waters, causing landslides and the destruction of the lower section of the fortress wall. The elimination of the consequences of Peltsel's activities dragged on for decades and was conducted in the 1850s under the guidance of architect L.V. Fostikov, and in the 1860s, architect D. Nebolsin.

By the end of the 19th century, only the upper section of the garden had been improved, while the lower, hillside part remained neglected.

In the early 20th century, city authorities even considered the possibility of laying a road along the hillside section of the garden along the fortress wall, connecting the docks with Ivanovsky descent.

After the February Revolution of 1917, the garden became accessible to the general public.

During the Soviet era, the garden was not used. In the post-war years, its territory was re-terraced as part of anti-landslide measures.