Carpenter Playlot Park
History
In 1954, the City of Chicago decided to purchase property at the corner of 62nd and Carpenter Streets in the Englewood neighborhood. By 1957, the city's Bureau of Parks and Recreation had developed the site as a playground, transferring it to the Chicago Park District two years later. The park takes its name from the adjacent street, in turn named for early Chicagoan Philo Carpenter (1805-1886). Born in Massachusetts and trained as a pharmacist in New York, Carpenter arrived in the 200-person settlement of Chicago in 1832. He immediately opened a drug store on what is now Lake Street and began to invest in real estate. Within two years, he had made his fortune. Carpenter later became a vocal advocate of abolitionism and temperance, and served as a director of the Chicago Theological Seminary. Carpenter had seven children, including a daughter, Augusta, for whom Chicago's Augusta Park is named.