Harris (Ryan) Memorial Park

In 1898 and 1899, the City of Chicago acquired property for the park.  After 1905, the City's Special Park Commission replanted the site with trees, shrubs, and grass. The local Neighborhood Improvement Association heralded improvements here and at neighboring 72nd Street Park (now Lily Gardens) with a festive program of speeches and music in 1908. By 1916, the park had white enamel drinking fountains and an extensive sprinkler system. The Bureau of Parks and Recreation assumed management of the park shortly thereafter, adding flower beds and tennis courts. The City transferred the park to the Chicago Park District in 1957 pursuant to the Chicago Park and City Exchange of Functions Act.  For more than 100 years, the site had been known as Normal Park, for the Cook County Normal School, a teachers' training school established in the Englewood area in 1868. In 1999, the Chicago Park District named this approximately three-acre greenspace in the heart of the Englewood neighborhood in honor of Ryan Harris, an eleven-year-old resident who was tragically murdered.