West Chatham Park (Chicago, Illinois)
USA /
Illinois /
Evergreen Park /
Chicago, Illinois /
South Princeton Avenue, 8223
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West Chatham Park lies in the western portion of Chicago's south side Chatham community. This swampy area remained sparsely populated until the 1920s, when residential construction and manufacturing boomed. Growth in the middle-class community slowed during the Great Depression, but rebounded in the 1940s. At the close of World War II, the Chicago Park District initiated a Ten Year Plan to create new parks in under-served and rapidly-growing areas of the city. The western section of Chatham was among the neighborhoods identified for park development. In spring 1948, a group of community residents and the local alderman, William Murphy, appeared before the park board, recommending the site's acquisition. The park district moved swiftly, condemning the property and taking possession by the fall of that year. Because the park district was simultaneously building 43 new parks, initial improvements moved slowly here, but within a few years West Chatham Park had an athletic field and playground equipment. By 1954, there was also a brick comfort station. Between 1967 and 1975, the park district and the Board of Education jointly offered recreational programming at West Chatham Park and adjacent Simeon Vocational High School. In 1989, the park district upgraded the park, installing a new soft surface playground, and constructing an attractive club room addition to the comfort station.
www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks/West-Chatham-Park/
www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks/West-Chatham-Park/
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 41°44'40"N 87°37'53"W
- Dan Ryan Woods Forest Preserve 4.2 km
- Harborside International Golf Center 5.4 km
- Beaubien Woods Forest Preserve 10 km
- Sears Park 11 km
- Rubio Woods 16 km
- Midlothian Meadows Forest Preserve 16 km
- Wampum Lake Woods Forest Preserve 19 km
- North Creek Meadow Forest Preserve 21 km
- Orland Grassland 27 km
- Van Horne Woods Forest Preserve 32 km
- Chatham-Ridge Shopping Center 0.8 km
- 77th Street CTA Bus Garage 0.9 km
- Chatham 1.4 km
- Auburn Gresham 2 km
- Greater Grand Crossing 2.8 km
- Paul Robeson High School 2.9 km
- 74th Street CTA Bus Garage 3.5 km
- Englewood 3.5 km
- Norfolk Southern 63rd Street (Park Manor) Yard 3.7 km
- West Englewood 4.5 km