Hamilton (Alexander) Park

The South Park Commission acquired property in 1903 and created Hamilton Park in 1904 as part of a revolutionary system of neighborhood parks providing relief to Chicago's congested tenement districts.  The South Park Commission continued to acquire land to expand the park until 1905.  The City's existing parks were far away from the noisy, overcrowded immigrant neighborhoods in the center of the City.  Superintendent J. Frank Foster envisioned a new type of park that would not only provide beautifully landscaped "breathing spaces," but also a variety of services and educational functions. Nationally renowned landscape architects the Olmsted Brothers and architects Daniel H. Burnham and Company designed the entire system of new parks. The first ten neighborhood parks opened to the public in 1905. The park became part of the Chicago Park District’s portfolio in 1934 when the 22 park districts were consolidated. 

Of the ten parks, Hamilton was the only one named for a national political figure. It honors Alexander Hamilton (1755-?1804), advisor to George Washington and first secretary of the U.S. Treasury, who was killed in a duel with Aaron Burr. The theme of national political history is beautifully conveyed in the Hamilton Park fieldhouse murals, executed by noted Chicago artist, John Warner Norton. The other nine parks, Sherman, Ogden, Palmer, and Bessemer Parks, and Mark White, Russell, Davis, Armour and Cornell Squares, were named for figures who were significant to the development of Chicago.