Lincoln Park
| Lincoln Park | |
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Aerial view of the seven-mile-long Lincoln Park shoreline
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| Type | Urban park |
| Location | Chicago |
| Coordinates | 41°57′N 87°38′W / 41.95°N 87.64°WCoordinates: 41°57′N 87°38′W / 41.95°N 87.64°W |
| Area | 1,200 acres (490 ha) |
| Created | 1843 |
| Operated by | Chicago Park District |
Lincoln Park is a 1,208-acre (489-hectare) park along the lakefront of Chicago, Illinois' North Side, facing Lake Michigan. It is Chicago's largest public park. Named after Abraham Lincoln, it stretches for seven miles (11 km) from Ohio Street (600 N) on the south to near Ardmore Avenue (5800 N) on the north, just north of the Lake Shore Drive terminus at Hollywood Avenue. Several museums and a zoo are located between North Avenue (1600 N) and Diversey Parkway (2800 N) in the neighborhood that takes its name from the park, Lincoln Park. The park further to the north is characterized by parkland, beaches, recreational areas, nature reserves, and harbors. To the south, there is a more narrow strip of beaches east of Lake Shore Drive, almost to downtown. With 20 million visitors a year, Lincoln Park is the second-most-visited park in the United States.
The park's recreational facilities include baseball/softball fields, basketball courts, soccer/football fields, tennis courts, volleyball courts, field houses, a target archery field, a driving range and golf course. The park also includes a number of harbors with boating facilities, as well as public beaches. There are landscaped gardens, public art, bird refuges, a zoo, the Lincoln Park Conservatory, the Chicago History Museum, the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool, and a theater on the lake with regular outdoor performances during the summer.
In 1860, Lake Park (earlier, Cemetery Park), the precursor of today's park, was established by the city on the lands just to the north of the city's burial ground. Five years later, on June 12, 1865, the park was renamed to honor the recently assassinated President Abraham Lincoln.
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Wikipedia