Harold Washington Park is a small (10 acre) park in the

Chicago Park District The Chicago Park District is one of the oldest and the largest park districts in the United States. As of 2016, there are over 600 parks included in the Chicago Park District as well as 27 beaches, several boat harbors, two botanic conservatorie ...

located in the Hyde Park community area on the South Side of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

, US. In 1992, it was named for

Harold Washington Harold Lee Washington (April 15, 1922 – November 25, 1987) was an American lawyer and politician who was the 51st Mayor of Chicago. Washington became the first African American to be elected as the city's mayor in April 1983. He served as may ...

(1922–1987), the first African-American

Chicago Mayor The mayor of Chicago is the chief executive of city government in Chicago, Illinois, the third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsible for the administration and management of various city departments, submits proposals and ...

. The Park District officially calls the park Harold Washington Playlot Park with a designated address of 5200 S. Hyde Park Blvd Chicago, IL 60615. It is one of 4

parks named after persons surnamed

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

( Washington Park,

Washington Square Park Washington Square Park is a public park in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. One of the best known of New York City's public parks, it is an icon as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity. ...

, Dinah Washington Park). It is one of 40 Chicago Park District parks named after influential African Americans. The Park is bounded by East 53rd Street on the south, South Hyde Park Boulevard on the west, and Lake Shore Drive to the east. Architecturally, it is flanked to the north by Regents Park and The Hampton House to the south. Its southwest corner opposes two

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

Properties: Hotel Del Prado and East Park Towers.

History

The park was originally bequeathed to the city in 1906 by

Paul Cornell Paul Douglas Cornell (born 18 July 1967) is a British writer best known for his work in television drama as well as ''Doctor Who'' fiction, and as the creator of one of the Doctor's spin-off companions, Bernice Summerfield. As well as ''Docto ...

as commemorated by the Paul Cornell Stone. It was then called ''East End Park''. In 1919, it was transferred to the South Park Commission. In 1927, it became part of Burnham Park. The park district renamed the site Harold Washington Park in 1992. Until recently () when Park District signs were posted it had been referred to as Cornell Park by many local residents.

Facilities

The park is mostly used by picnicking neighborhood residents and is particularly popular during the summer holidays (

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

July 4 Events Pre-1600 *362 BC – Battle of Mantinea: The Thebans, led by Epaminondas, defeated the Spartans. * 414 – Emperor Theodosius II, age 13, yields power to his older sister Aelia Pulcheria, who reigned as regent and proclaime ...

, Labor Day). The park has 8 tennis courts, an elaborate soft surface children's playground, a bathhouse and a boat pond. The park is best known for its

South American South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

monk parakeet The monk parakeet (''Myiopsitta monachus''), also known as the Quaker parrot, is a species of true parrot in the family Psittacidae. It is a small, bright-green parrot with a greyish breast and greenish-yellow abdomen. Its average lifespan is 20 ...

nests. At 51st street, there is an overpass leading from the park to the bike path between Lake Shore Drive and Lake Michigan.

Boat Pond

The boat pond is mistakenly referred to as a duck pond by many local residents because it is frequented during the summer by ducks and is rarely used for recreational model boats. However, the pond has no aquatic or plant life forms (excluding weeds protruding through former cracks in the seal) to support ducks. In 2006, the pool was designated for repair and was not filled. Reconstruction began in the fall with the pool being resurfaced. A fountain and sculpture was placed in the center and dedicated in the spring of 2007 and the pool was refilled in late summer 2008.

Parakeet nests

In the 1980s,Stevens, Mike, ''Parakeet Home Topples'',

Hyde Park Herald The ''Hyde Park Herald'' is a weekly newspaper that serves the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Overview The newspaper was founded in 1882. For the ''Heralds first seven years, it was a suburban newspaper covering affairs in an i ...

, June 16, 2004 a dozen or so South American

s were released into the park directly across the street from the Hampton House. They settled in a large ash tree. By the summer of 1988, bird watchers counted two dozen birds in the original tree. The population has continued to redouble frequently. The flock, known to many as Harold's parakeets (after the former mayor for whom the park is named), has grown to a few hundred birds that nest throughout this park, Burnham Park and Jackson Park on the South Side of Chicago. The original tree became infested with

termites Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattod ...

and collapsed on June 12, 2004. Over 50 birds were displaced by the collapse. The nests were replaced in other nearby trees. Birdwatchers come from around the world to see this flock of birds. The birds have been a hotly contested issue pitting the

U.S. Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...

against local politicians and the Harold Washington Memorial Parrot Defense Fund. Alternate theories for the original population of birds are * Harold Washington released a dozen or so birds during his local residence. * A small flock of the birds escaped from a commercial shipment. * A small flock of the birds escaped from a residential birdcage. Regardless of their origins, the flock was ably defended by the Mayor who foiled attempts to have them removed from the local park. In 2021, a mural entitled "Harold's Parakeets" was commissioned near the park to commemorate the Mayor and the Parakeets.

Notes

External links