LeClaire Courts/Hearst Community
History
The Chicago Park District planned and developed LeClaire-Hearst Park in conjunction with the Chicago Housing Authority's construction of the nearby LeClaire Courts public housing project. The park district first purchased land for the park in 1948, and acquired additional property from C.H.A. in 1968 and from the Board of Education in 1991. In 1974, the park was officially designated LeClaire Courts - Hearst Community Park for the neighboring communities. The park district expanded the park with Board of Education land in 1991.
LeClaire Courts, which opened in 1950, was Chicago's first attempt at integrated, lowrise public housing. The complex takes its name from Antoine Le Claire, a fur trader and government interpreter who came to Chicago with John Kinzie (1763-1828) in 1809. LeClaire Street, which terminates at the south edge of the park, also bears his name. Hearst is the single-family residential community south of 45th Street. Its name derives from that of philanthropist Phoebe Apperson Hearst (1842-191), mother of newspaper publisher and businessman William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951).
