Jefferson (Thomas) Memorial Park

Thomas Jefferson Memorial Park honors the nation's third president and drafter of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826). Long known simply as Jefferson Park, the park received the memorial park designation in 1999, to distinguish it from a second park of the same name. This Jefferson Park was the creation of the Jefferson Park District, one of 22 park commissions consolidated into the Chicago Park District in 1934 when the park became part of the Chicago Park District’s portfolio. Established in 1920 to provide neighborhood parks for its rapidly-developing northwest side community, the Jefferson Park District began to purchase land for the park in 1921. Land acquisition continued through 1929, by which time, much of the park had been landscaped. In 1930, the park district constructed an athletic field and a fieldhouse designed by Clarence Hatzfeld. The brick fieldhouse is graced with several paintings, including an anonymous portrait Thomas Jefferson, a depiction of a Viking ship by Emil Biorn, and Columbus Sighting Land by L. Caracciolo.