Brighton Park
History
The Chicago Park District purchased the site of this playlot in 1974 with the help of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The park was officially named Brighton Park in 1998. Brighton Park takes its name from the community area in which it is located. Incorporated in 1851, the Village of Brighton Park was annexed to Chicago in 1889. Brighton Park was also the name of an early racetrack located in what is now the adjacent McKinley Park neighborhood. "Long John" Wentworth (1815-1888), a teacher, lawyer, congressman, and Chicago mayor, built the racetrack in the 1850s. The opening of the nearby Union Stock Yards forced its closure in the following decade. In 1901, the South Park Commissioners developed the nearby site of the long-abandoned racetrack as McKinley Park.
