One of many small parks created to meet increasing recreational demands in post-World War II Chicago, Mason Park was established in 1951. After purchasing two-tenths of an acre in the West Garfield Park neighborhood, the city's Bureau of Parks and Recreation improved the property with a gravel-surfaced playground and shrubs. Initially known as West End Playlot for the adjacent street, the park was transferred to the Chicago Park District in 1959. By the late 1980s, the park suffered from crime problems, particularly because an adjacent apartment building had become a crack house. To rid the park of such problems, the park district began working with Bethel New Life, a local civic group and community development organization. Bethel New Life purchased the crack house, evicted the tenants, and transformed the property into much-needed low-income housing. Simultaneously, the park district acquired another half-acre to the north of the park, more than tripling its size. The park district demolished the existing park features, and improved the expanded site following an award-winning design that included a new soft surface play area, a gazebo, an amphitheater, and a computerized interactive waterplay area. Later in 1990, the park district renamed the park in honor of Elizabeth James Mason, a much-loved local resident who served as the area's first African American crossing guard. She always had the interest of the children she guarded in mind.

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