Jackson Park (Chicago)
Jackson Park is a 500-acre (2 km²) park on Chicago's South Side, located at 6401 South Stony Island Avenue in the Woodlawn community area. It extends into the South Shore and Hyde Park community areas, bordering Lake Michigan and several South Side neighborhoods. Named for President Andrew Jackson, it is one of two Chicago Park District parks with the name "Jackson", the other being Mahalia Jackson Park in the community area of Auburn Gresham on the far southwest side of Chicago.
The parkland was first developed as the host site of the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, memorialized today by the Statue of the Republic. The Museum of Science and Industry resides in the remaining "palace" in the park from that era, and a Japanese garden traces its history to the fair. The park includes woodland trails, playing fields, a beach, golf course, and a boat harbor. It is the future site of the Barack Obama Presidential Center and library.
After the state legislature created the South Park Commission in 1869, the designers of New York's Central Park, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, were hired to lay out the 1,055-acre (4.27 km2) park (which included the Midway Plaisance and Washington Park). Lois Willie explained in her book Forever Open, Clear, and Free, "Olmstead said Jackson Park should be water oriented, with a yacht harbor, winding walkways around the lagoons, small bridges, bathing pavilions, and plenty of space for boating." However, their designs were not put into place at that time, and Jackson Park remained untouched until Chicago was chosen to host the World's Fair several years later. One of the landmarks that recalls the 1893 Columbian Exposition is the Statue of the Republic, only it is now a replica one-third the size of the original. The designers used the Statue of Liberty as inspiration when they were creating the original. Today the statue stands at the site of the 1893 Expositions Administration Building.
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