Wildwood Park

Wildwood Park was created as part of a ten-year initiative by the Chicago Park District to serve the city's booming post-World War II population. In 1949, the park district began purchasing vacant land in the rapidly-growing Forest Glen community, acquiring neighboring city streets and alleys late the following year. That winter, the park district flooded a section of open field to create a temporary ice skating rink. However, no further improvements were made until Wildwood Elementary School was constructed on adjacent property in 1953. Using the school gymnasium for recreational programs during evening hours and on weekends, the park district began joint operations with the Board of Education. Within a few years, Wildwood Park had an athletic field, playground equipment, tennis courts, and a comfort station. Additional improvements, including tree planting, playground rehabilitation, and a new sand volleyball court, came in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Wildwood Park and the adjacent school take their names from nearby Wildwood Avenue. All three recognize the heavily wooded nature of the surrounding territory, once a Potawatomi hunting ground. Only a few blocks from the park and school, the Billy Caldwell Forest Preserve cuts through the community. Caldwell, a half-Indian, half-English chief of the Potowatomis, also known as Sauganash, sold most of his land to farmers when his tribe was removed from the area in 1836. Some of Caldwell's former land has been developed into the residential areas of Forest Glen, while a large portion was set aside for the Cook County forest preserve.