At the close of World War II, the Chicago Park District adopted a ten-year plan to increase recreational opportunities in under-served Chicago neighborhoods. The southwest side Ashburn neighborhood had remained sparsely settled as late as 1940, but its population began to surge immediately after the war. In 1946, the park district selected a 20-acre park site at 83rd and South Richmond. Though land acquisition was completed before the end of 1948, park development did not begin for a number of years. In 1956, the park district sold several acres at the north end of the Ashburn Park site to the Board of Education for a much-needed elementary school. Park improvements began at about the same time, and the new Ashburn Park with its winding walkways, ballfields, and small recreational building opened to the public in 1957. For twenty years, the park district and the Board of Education jointly operated Ashburn Park and Carroll Elementary School, offering recreational programming at both. In the mid-1970s, the park district and the Board of Education terminated their joint venture, and the park district built a new brick fieldhouse. At the same time, the park was renamed in honor of respected local figure Father Francis D. Hayes (1903--1976). Ordained as a Catholic priest in 1927, Fr. Hayes came to the "wide open spaces" of Ashburn in 1946 to found a parish there. Under Hayes' leadership, the St. Thomas More Parish grew with the Ashburn community. Hayes retired in 1972, but was still serving as St. Thomas More's pastor emeritus at the time of his death in 1976.

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