Indian Road Park

Indian Road Park was established in 1948 on Board of Education-owned property in the rapidly growing Norwood Park community. By 1950, the city's Bureau of Parks and Recreation had improved the site with a sand box, playground equipment, and a baseball diamond. Following its general practice at the time, the bureau named the park for adjacent Indian Road. Indian Road runs along the edge of what was once the reservation of Billy Caldwell (1780-1841), a Potowatomi chief and notable early Chicagoan. Caldwell, born of an Irish father and a Wyandot mother, was also known as Sauganash, meaning "the Englishman." The Chicago Park District began to manage Indian Road Park in 1959. By the early 1960s, the park had a brick recreation building, additional playground equipment, a reconditioned athletic field, and new plantings. Having added a spray pool and basketball court in 1966, the park district built a soft surface playground in 1988. The Board of Education transferred ownership of the property to the park district in 1991.