Location:
5200 W. Kinzie Parkway
Chicago, IL 60644
Supervisor:
Tebrena Howard (Austin Town Hall Park)
Phone Numbers:
Main
(773) 287-7658
Hours
Park Hours
Description
This small playground is located in the Austin Community. The park is 0.88 acres and it features a beautiful fountain and passive greenspace.
While there is no structured programming taking place at this location, we invite you to check out our great programs offered at nearby Austin Town Hall Park.
History
In 1865, Henry W. Austin purchased a large tract of land west of Chicago and laid out a subdivision with wide, shaded streets. Initially known as Austinville, and later as Austin, the community's population surged with its 1899 annexation to Chicago. In 1908, the city's Special Park Commission began improving a strip of land north of Kinzie Street with trees and shrubs.
The commission envisioned Kinzie Street Parkway as a connecting link between a number of west side parks. These included Merrick (now Levin) Park and Austin Park, both designed in 1906 by renowned landscape architect Jens Jensen, a member of the Special Park Commission.
The Chicago Park District has been leasing this park property from CDOT since 1959. Kinzie Parkway Park remains one of a small number of Chicago parks used exclusively for passive recreation. Both the park and the adjacent street honor John Kinzie (1763-1828), one of Chicago's earliest settlers.
Born in Quebec to a British army surgeon who died young, Kinzie apprenticed as a silversmith. Having spent many years trapping and trading in the north woods, Kinzie arrived in Chicago in 1804. He developed friendly relations with local Native Americans, quickly rising to prominence in the frontier community. When Potawatomis attacked Federal troops fleeing Fort Dearborn, Kinzie and his family managed to escape unharmed with the help of Billy Caldwell, a half-Irish Potawatomi chief. Returning to Chicago in 1816, Kinzie resumed his Indian trading, but never regained his earlier stature.