Washington Park (Chicago park)
|
Washington Park
|
|
Pond located in Washington Park
|
|
 |
|
| Location | 5531 S. King Dr., Chicago, Illinois |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 41°47′45″N 87°36′40″W / 41.79583°N 87.61111°WCoordinates: 41°47′45″N 87°36′40″W / 41.79583°N 87.61111°W |
| Area | 380 acres (1.5 km2) |
| Built | 1870 |
| Architect | Olmsted, Frederick Law; Burnham, Daniel H. |
| Architectural style | Beaux Arts, Art Deco |
| MPS | Chicago Park District MPS |
| NRHP Reference # | 04000871 |
| Added to NRHP | August 20, 2004 |
Washington Park (formerly Western Division of South Park, also Park No. 21) is a 372-acre (1.5 km2) 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 in Cook County, Illinois. It was named for President George Washington in 1880. Washington Park is the largest of four Chicago Park District parks named after persons surnamed Washington (the others are Dinah Washington Park, Harold Washington Park and Washington Square Park, Chicago). Located in the park is the DuSable Museum of African American History. This park was the proposed site of the Olympic Stadium and the Olympic swimming venue for Chicago's bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics. Washington Park was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 20, 2004.
Washington Park was conceived by Paul Cornell, a Chicago real estate magnate who had founded the adjoining town of Hyde Park. Cornell had lobbied the Illinois General Assembly to establish the South Park Commission. After his efforts succeeded in 1869, the South Park Board of Commissioners identified more than 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) 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 and Washington Parks and the Midway Plaisance. Cornell hired Frederick Law Olmsted and his partner, Calvert Vaux, to lay out the park in the 1870s. Their blueprints were destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
...
Wikipedia