Winnemac Park

Lying adjacent to Chappell Elementary and Amundsen High School, Winnemac Park has served as both park and school land for many years. The City of Chicago's Special Parks Commission established the park in 1910, on land leased from the Board of Education. Shortly thereafter, the commission graded and landscaped the former truck farm, installing a number of athletic fields. In 1929, the board built Amundsen High School on the northeast corner of the site. Chappell Elementary was built west of the high school in 1937. The site also includes Hansen field, a football and soccer stadium erected in the 1930s. The Chicago Park District took responsibility for maintaining the park facilities in 1959. In 1991, the Board of Education transferred to the park district the portion of the park lying south of Winnemac Street; the park district is now acquiring the remaining land. Winnemac Park is named for the adjacent street. The roadway in turn takes its name from Winamac, an important chief of the Potowatamie Indians. Winamac, whose name meant "catfish," was a signer of the 1795 Treaty of Grenville, in which Great Lakes tribes surrendered the site of Chicago to the U.S. government. Winamac and his people fought with the British in the War of 1812, and the warrior died during the fighting.