Eckhart Park
History
The West Park Commission created Eckhart Park in 1907 to provide breathing space and social services for one of the overcrowded immigrant neighborhoods the commission served. Eckhart Park was among the first in a system of small west side parks authorized by state legislation in 1905. The park takes its name from Bernard A. Eckhart (1852-1931), who played a prominent role in the neighborhood parks movement. Eckhart, president of the West Park Commission from 1905 through 1908, hired landscape architect Jens Jensen as General Superintendent for the West Park System. Though Jensen's well-known Prairie style of landscape architecture was not yet fully formed in 1905, he was already using local plant materials to create designs that emulated the native landscape. Jensen's design for Eckhart Park included an hourglass-shaped swimming pool, a playground, open-air gymnasiums, and community gardens where children could learn to plant and tend their plots.
