Washington Park (formerly Western Division of South Park, also Park No. 21) is a park between Cottage Grove Avenue and Martin Luther King Drive, (originally known as "Grand Boulevard") located at 5531 S. Martin Luther King Dr. in the Washington Park community area on the South Side of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. It was named for President

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

in 1880.Graf, John, ''Chicago's Parks'' Arcadia Publishing, 2000, p. 84., . Washington Park is the largest of four

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, 10 boat docking harbors, two botanic conservat ...

parks named after persons surnamed

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

(the others are Dinah Washington Park, Harold Washington Park and

Washington Square Park, Chicago Washington Square, also known as Washington Square Park, is a park in Chicago, Illinois. A registered historic landmark that is better known by its nickname Bughouse Square (derived from the slang of bughouse referring to mental health faciliti ...

). Located in the park is the

DuSable Museum of African American History The DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center, formerly the DuSable Museum of African American History, is a museum in Chicago that is dedicated to the study and conservation of African-American history, culture, and art named after Je ...

. This park was the proposed site of the

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports ...

and the

Olympic swimming Swimming has been a sport at every modern Summer Olympics. It has been open to women since 1912. At the Olympics, swimming has the second-highest number of medal-contested events after athletics. Summary Long-course swimming Men's events P ...

venue for Chicago's bid to host the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. Washington Park was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on August 20, 2004.

Planning

Washington Park was conceived by

Paul Cornell Paul Douglas Cornell (born 18 July 1967) is a British writer. He has worked in television drama and ''Doctor Who'' fiction, being the creator of one of the Doctor's spin-off companions, Bernice Summerfield. Other British television dramas f ...

, a Chicago real estate magnate who had founded the adjoining town of Hyde Park. Cornell had lobbied the

Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in ...

to establish the South Park Commission. After his efforts succeeded in 1869, the South Park Board of Commissioners identified more than south of Chicago for a large park and boulevards that would connect it with downtown and the extant West Park System. Originally called South Park, the property was composed of eastern and western divisions, now bearing the names

Jackson Jackson may refer to: Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson South, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson oil field in Durham, ...

and Washington Parks and the

Midway Plaisance The Midway Plaisance, known locally as the Midway, is a Chicago parks, public park on the Neighborhoods of Chicago#South side, South Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is one mile long by 220 yards wide and extends along 59th and 60th streets, joini ...

. Cornell hired

Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822 – August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, Social criticism, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the U ...

and his partner,

Calvert Vaux Calvert Vaux Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, FAIA (; December 20, 1824 – November 19, 1895) was an English-American architect and landscape architect, landscape designer. He and his protégé Frederick Law Olmsted designed park ...

, to lay out the park in the 1870s. Their blueprints were destroyed in the

Great Chicago Fire The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago, Illinois during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left mor ...

of 1871. When Olmsted first examined the property, he saw a field filled with bare trees and decided to maintain its character by creating a

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable con ...

surrounded by trees. His plan for the park called for

sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

to graze as a means of keeping the grass short. Cornell convinced Olmsted to include sporting areas, although Olmsted wanted a more natural feel to the park, which included a lake. The Western division was renamed Washington Park in 1881. Washparkrockgarden

Olmsted designed the park to have two broad boulevards cutting through it, making it part of the Chicago boulevard system. From Washington Park, one can take the Midway east to Jackson Park, Garfield Boulevard west to

Chicago Midway International Airport Chicago Midway International Airport is a major commercial airport on the southwest side of Chicago, Illinois, located approximately 12 miles (19 km) from the city's Loop business district, and divided between the city's Clearing and ...

, or Drexel Boulevard north to the central city.

Construction

Horace William Shaler Cleveland Horace William Shaler Cleveland (December 16, 1814 – December 5, 1900) was an American landscape architect. His approach to natural landscape design can be seen in projects such as the Grand Rounds in Minneapolis; Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Conc ...

executed the plans within the limitations of the financial setbacks from the fire (including the loss of tax rolls) and the 1873 depression. Olmsted's vision for Washington Park was generally realized.Bachrach, Julia Sniderman, ''Park Districts'', Eds. Grossman, James R., Keating, Ann Durkin, and Reiff, Janice L., 2004 ''The Encyclopedia of Chicago'', p. 601. The University of Chicago Press, However, spending for the park was diverted after the

in 1871. The loss of financial backing and difficulty in levying taxes after the fire meant that a water park could not be built on the property. From 1897 until the 1930s the park housed an impressive conservatory and ornate sunken garden designed by D. H. Burnham & Co. at 56th Street and Cottage Grove.Bachrach, Julia Sniderman, ''Conservatories'', Eds. Grossman, James R., Keating, Ann Durkin, and Reiff, Janice L., 2004 ''The Encyclopedia of Chicago'', p. 199-200. The University of Chicago Press, The Washington Park Conservatory, like those of other city parks such as Humboldt and Douglas Parks, was torn down in the 1930s due to limited resources as a result of the Great Depression. This left

Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US president Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, to near Ardmore Avenu ...

and Garfield Park as Chicago's main Conservatories. One of the earliest improvements was the "South Open Green", a pastoral meadow with grazing sheep, also used as a ball field. Architect Daniel H. Burnham's firm designed the 1880 limestone round stables, the 1881 refectory, and the 1910 administrative headquarters for the South Park Commission. Other early attractions to the park included riding stables,

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

grounds, baseball fields, a

toboggan A toboggan is a simple sled used in snowy winter recreation. It is also a traditional form of cargo transport used by the Innu, Cree and Ojibwe of North America, sometimes part of a dog train. It is used on snow to carry one or more people (o ...

slide,

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a Bow and arrow, bow to shooting, shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting ...

ranges, a

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

Swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...

paths,

row boat Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reaction (physics), reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to ...

horseshoe A horseshoe is a product designed to protect a horse hoof from wear. Shoes are attached on the palmar surface (ground side) of the hooves, usually nailed through the insensitive hoof wall that is anatomically akin to the human toenail, altho ...

pits,

greenhouse A greenhouse is a structure that is designed to regulate the temperature and humidity of the environment inside. There are different types of greenhouses, but they all have large areas covered with transparent materials that let sunlight pass an ...

s, a

rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

, a

bandstand A bandstand (sometimes music kiosk) is a circular, semicircular or polygonal structure set in a park, garden, pier, or indoor space, designed to accommodate musical bands performing concerts. A simple construction, it both creates an ornamen ...

, a small

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...

featuring six

alligator An alligator, or colloquially gator, is a large reptile in the genus ''Alligator'' of the Family (biology), family Alligatoridae in the Order (biology), order Crocodilia. The two Extant taxon, extant species are the American alligator (''A. mis ...

s, and a

lily ''Lilium'' ( ) is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large and often prominent flowers. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. Most species are ...

pond A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression (geology), depression, either naturally or artificiality, artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing ...

. The lily pond (pictured left) was a particularly enticing attraction because few had seen such a site. Today, the administrative building houses

. The park has retained its environmental appeal with continuing visionary support of the

Burnham Plan The Burnham Plan is a popular name for the 1909 ''Plan of Chicago'' coauthored by Daniel Burnham and Edward H. Bennett and published in 1909. It recommended an integrated series of projects including new and widened streets, parks, new railro ...

which supported the maintenance of a park system.Stradling, David, ''Environmentalism'', Eds. Grossman, James R., Keating, Ann Durkin, and Reiff, Janice L., 2004 ''The Encyclopedia of Chicago'', p. 278. The University of Chicago Press,

Usage

On December 6, 1879, former U.S. President

Ulysses Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as commanding general, Grant led the Union Army to victory in the American Civil War ...

took part in a tree planting ceremony in the park. A memorial boulder with a plaque (both of which have been removed from the park, along with the tree) commemorated the event. In the 1920s black semiprofessional baseball teams played at Washington Park.

George Lott George Martin Lott (October 16, 1906 – December 3, 1991) was an American tennis player and tennis coach who was born in Springfield, Illinois. Lott is mostly remembered as being one of the great doubles players of all time. He won the U.S. titl ...

began playing tennis at the park.Long, John H., ''Tennis'', Eds. Grossman, James R., Keating, Ann Durkin, and Reiff, Janice L., 2004 ''The Encyclopedia of Chicago'', p. 814. The University of Chicago Press, At the southeast corner of the park, at 61st and Cottage Grove,

Washington Park Race Track Washington Park Race Track was a popular horse racing venue in the Chicago metropolitan area from 1884 until 1977. It had two locations during its existence. It was first situated at what became the Washington Park Subdivision of the Woodl ...

operated between 1883 and 1905. It was one of the largest and grandest horse racetracks of its time. A nine-hole golf course was built in the infield and several of its buildings survive today as part of the Park District. This includes the stables used by Chicago Police at 58th and Cottage Grove. The racetrack closed after Illinois outlawed gambling, and the name was transferred to a second track in Homewood, Illinois. The

USA Cross Country Championships The USA Cross Country Championships is the annual national championships for cross country running in the United States. The championships is generally held in mid-February and it serves as a way of designating the country's national champion, as ...

were held in the park in 1933, 1957, 1958, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1967, 1970 and 1972. Washington Park was a site of tension and conflict arising from the demographic changes resulting from the African American expansion into the neighborhood in the period following the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The park has since 1961 hosted the

, a leader in the promotion of the history, art and culture of African American heritage.

2016 Olympic bid

On September 21, 2006, Mayor

Richard M. Daley Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh ter ...

announced that an

was being proposed for Washington Park as part of Chicago's bid for the

(The

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

requires cities have a dome with a

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

of at least 80,000 in order to be considered as summer Olympics hosts). The stadium would have seated 95,000 initially for the games, and would have been converted to a 10,000-seat below-ground arena for track-and-field and cultural events after the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

. The cost was estimated to be at least US$300–400 million. The plan replaced the initial dual stadium opening ceremony facility. Additional details about the plan included new permanent hockey fields, use of Jones Armory, and new pedestrian juncture between the two halves of the park by tunneling part of Morgan Drive (55th). A later December 2008 plan added the

olympic swimming Swimming has been a sport at every modern Summer Olympics. It has been open to women since 1912. At the Olympics, swimming has the second-highest number of medal-contested events after athletics. Summary Long-course swimming Men's events P ...

venue to the park. The plan faced opposition from those holding the view that Washington Park's listing on the

could not have survived the execution of this Olympic plan. In addition to the opposition, the plan faced constraints because of the park's landmark status, which precluded federal money from being used to build a temporary stadium in the park. The October 2009 decision to award the 2016 Summer Games to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

halted these plans.

Today

Washington Park is listed on the

as a United States Registered Historic District. Its National Register of Historic Places

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

consisted of containing 15 contributing buildings, 28 contributing structures, and 8 contributing objects. Interesting sights in the Park include the DuSable Museum of African American History and its sculpture garden, the

Lorado Taft Lorado Zadok Taft (April 29, 1860 – October 30, 1936) was an American sculptor, writer and educator. Part of the American Renaissance movement, his monumental pieces include, ''Fountain of Time'', ''Spirit of the Great Lakes'', and ''The ...

sculpture ''

Fountain of Time ''Fountain of Time'', or simply ''Time'', is a sculpture by Lorado Taft, measuring in length, situated at the western edge of the Midway Plaisance within Washington Park in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. The sculpture is inspire ...

'', and an architecturally distinctive

National Guard National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. ...

armory. Washington Park is a social center of the South Side and hosts many festivals in the summer, including Chicago's best organized

league and the terminus of the

Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic The Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic (also known as The Bud Billiken Day Parade) is an annual parade held since 1929 in Chicago, Illinois. The Bud Billiken Day Parade is the largest African-American parade in the United States.Bud Billiken Parade 2 ...

. It is also the host of the annual UniverSoul Circus which comes to the park each fall (its first performance at the park was 1996). The largest 16" softball league in Chicago is played there on Sundays (called "Sunday's Best Softball League"). There are 34 teams who play on 13 diamonds. There is also a weekday evening league.

Notes

External links

Washington Park Maps

Official City of Chicago Washington Park Neighborhood MapChicago Park District: Washington Park

The Washington Park Advisory Council's
web site
Washington Park Quality-of-Life Neighborhood Planning
{{good article Historic districts in Chicago Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in Chicago Baseball venues in Chicago Cricket grounds in the United States Cross country running courses in Illinois Equestrian venues in the United States Golf clubs and courses in Chicago Softball venues in Chicago Swimming venues in Chicago Tennis venues in Chicago South Side, Chicago Urban public parks 1870 establishments in Illinois Cricket in Illinois Parks in Chicago