Galewood Park

Galewood Park serves the neighborhood known for many years by that name. The community was named for Abram Gale (1795-1889), whose land was subdivided in 1870 to form the suburb of Galewood. Having arrived from New York City in 1835, Gale purchased 320 acres in the Town of Jefferson in 1837, and began to build a house there. "I brought all my household goods along," he said, "and among them was a Chickering piano, the second ever made. It was the first and only one in the village for a good many years, and it was a great card for me. The Indians would walk around the house mysteriously whenever my daughter played on it, staring in wonderment at the strange sounds." Gale also said that when he arrived he was installed at once as a member of the fire company. He went on to say "Every man was armed with two buckets, and we would all stand in a line with one end of the line at the lake and the other at the fire, and we would pass the buckets along." When one of his neighbors tried to take his land, Gale dug a ditch all around his claim. Gale's heavily-wooded property proved hard to plow. He eventually quit farming, and the hamlet of Galewood emerged there. The park's creation dates to the 1920s, when the North Austin Manor Neighborhood Club purchased the property and began developing a playground and ball fields there. In 1925, the neighborhood club petitioned the Northwest Park District, one of 22 park commissions later consolidated into the Chicago Park District, to take over the site.  From 1928-1929, the Northwest Park District purchased the parkland, along with adjoining property to expand the park.  The park became part of the Chicago Park District’s portfolio when the 22 park districts were consolidated in 1934.  After the Chicago Park District took over, it installed recreational facilities including an ice-skating rink and a small fieldhouse.  Streets and alleys were vacated in 1935 to expand the park.