Andersonville Playlot Park (c/o Winnemac Park)
History
Andersonville Park is named for the Andersonville section of the Edgewater community. The neighborhood began to develop rapidly in the early 1900s, when the city's elevated trains first reached the area. Around World War I, large numbers of Swedish immigrants moved north to Andersonville from earlier "Swede Towns" on Chicago's Near North Side and Lake View neighborhoods. After World War II, many early Andersonville residents moved on to Rogers Park and northern suburbs, but the community still celebrates its Swedish heritage with ethnic shops and restaurants, and a Swedish American museum.
Andersonville Park was established by the City of Chicago in 1950. By the end of that year, the new park had a sandbox and a playfield that could be flooded for ice skating in winter. Not long after, the city's Bureau of Parks and Recreation installed slides, swings, a merry-go-round, and a jungle gym. In 1959, the city transferred the park, along with more than 250 other properties, to the Chicago Park District. The park district rehabilitated the playground in 1964, and again in 1992. Known for years as Ashland Playlot for the adjacent street, the property was officially renamed Andersonville Park in 1993, at the request of neighborhood residents.