Keystone Playlot Park (c/o Hermosa Park)
History
Keystone Park is one of many small parks created by the city's Bureau of Parks and Recreation to meet the increasing recreational demands of post-World War II Chicago. In 1949, the City Council identified a small property in the Humboldt Park neighborhood for park development. During the following year, the Bureau of Parks and Recreation improved the site with a spray pool, a sand box, and playground equipment. Following its general policy, the bureau named the park for adjacent Keystone Avenue. The street name refers to Pennsylvania, long known as the "Keystone State," for its location in the geographic center of the thirteen original American colonies. The architectural term "keystone" refers to the central piece in a masonry arch.
In 1959, the city transferred Keystone Park to the Chicago Park District, along with more than 250 other properties. The park district planted a number of trees the following year, and extensively rehabilitated the playground in 1992.
