Maplewood Park

One of many small parks created by the City of Chicago after World War II, Maplewood Park was established on Board of Education-owned property in the West Town community in 1948. By 1950, the city's Bureau of Parks and Recreation had improved the site with a sand box, a compact brick recreation building, and a playfield that could be flooded for ice skating in winter. Following its general practice at the time, the bureau named the park for adjacent Maplewood Avenue. The street takes its name from the Village of Maplewood, founded in 1869 on land purchased by New Yorker Justin Butterfield (1790-1855) 26 years before. The maple groves that likely gave the village its name have long since disappeared, and the nearby Logan Square neighborhood stands in their place. The Chicago Park District began to manage Maplewood Park in 1959. Nearly 30 years later, the Board of Education transferred ownership to the park district, which rehabilitated the park with a new soft surface play area in 1991.