Hyde Park Township, Cook County
| Hyde Park Township | |
| Former Township | |
 The original boundaries of Hyde Park Township, imposed on a current map of Chicago
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| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | Illinois |
| County | Cook |
| Elevation | 591 ft (180.1 m) |
| Coordinates | 41°47′39″N 87°35′38″W / 41.79417°N 87.59389°WCoordinates: 41°47′39″N 87°35′38″W / 41.79417°N 87.59389°W |
| Population | 85,000 (1889) |
| Organized | 1861 |
| - Disbanded | 1889 |
| Timezone | CST (UTC-6) |
| - summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
  Location of Hyde Park Township in Illinois
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Hyde Park Township is a former civil township in Cook County, Illinois, United States that existed as a separate municipality from 1861 until 1889 when it was annexed into the city of Chicago. Its borders are Pershing Road (formerly 39th Street) on the north, State Street on the west, Lake Michigan and the Indiana state line on the east, and 138th Street and the Calumet River on the south. This region comprised most of what is now known as the South Side of Chicago.
During Chicago's initial explosive growth, it developed from an adjacent rural area to a developed residential, commercial and resort community. However, due to infrastructure limitations, legislative incentives and the lure of better municipal services it, along with numerous adjoining townships, agreed to be annexed into the city of Chicago, creating the largest city in the United States at that time.
The township was founded by Paul Cornell, who paid for a topographical survey of the lakefront south of the city in 1852. In 1853, following the advice of Senator Stephen Douglas, he bought 300 acres (1.21 km2) of speculative property between 51st Street and 55th Street and set about developing the first Chicago railroad suburb. This area was 7 miles (11.27 km) south of the mouth of the Chicago River and 6 miles (9.66 km) south of downtown Chicago. In the 1850s, Chicago was still a walkable urban area well contained within a 2 miles (3.22 km) radius of the center. He selected the name Hyde Park to associate the area with the elite neighborhood of Hyde Park in New York as well as the famous royal park in London. By 1855 he began acquiring large land tracts, which he would subdivide into lots for sale in the 1870s.
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