LeClaire-Hearst Park

The Chicago Park District planned and developed LeClaire-Hearst Park in conjunction with the Chicago Housing Authority's construction of the nearby LeClaire Courts public housing project. The Park District acquired land for the park from the C.H.A. in 1968 and expanded the park with land acquired from the Board of Education in 1991.  In 1970 and in 1995, streets were vacated in order to expand the park property.

In 1974, the park was officially designated LeClaire Courts - Hearst Community Park for the neighboring communities. LeClaire Courts, which opened in 1950, was Chicago's first attempt at integrated, low-rise public housing. The complex takes its name from Antoine Le Claire, a fur trader and government interpreter who came to Chicago with John Kinzie (1763-1828) in 1809. LeClaire Street, which terminates at the south edge of the park, also bears his name.  Hearst is the single-family residential community south of 45th Street. Its name derives from that of philanthropist Phoebe Apperson Hearst (1842-191), mother of newspaper publisher and businessman William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951).