Mount Greenwood Park

Mount Greenwood Park takes its name from the surrounding community. In 1879, George Waite obtained a state charter to develop a large cemetery on a low ridge west of 111th Street. The ridge, covered with oaks, hickory, aspen, and other trees, inspired the moniker Mount Greenwood. As a steady stream of visitors came to the beautiful cemetery, inns, restaurants, and shops soon opened nearby, forming the basis for the new Mount Greenwood community. Incorporated as a village in 1907, Mount Greenwood was annexed to Chicago twenty years later. The neighborhood had few modern services until 1936, when the Federal Works Progress Administration installed sewers and street lights, and paved the streets. With these improvements, Mount Greenwood's population soared, nearly tripling between 1940 and 1950. The booming Mount Greenwood community was among the neighborhoods identified for park development in the Chicago Park District's Ten Year Plan to provide increased recreational opportunities in post-World War II Chicago. In 1946, the Mount Greenwood Civic Council urged the acquisition of vacant Board of Education land along 111th Street. The Park District acquired the 24-acre site in 1948 from the Chicago Board of Education, and slowly began improving the property. The Park District constructed a fieldhouse in 1966, and added a swimming pool in 1973. The 1990s brought further improvements such as refrigerated ice skating rink provides winter recreation. Several features of Mount Greenwood Park honor noted local citizens. A parking area is dedicated to Frederick G. Abrams, Sr. a Chicago Alderman and Treasurer of the Village of Mount Greenwood from 1918 to 1927. A baseball diamond bears the name Rooney Field, in honor of Rooney Richardson, who took an active role in community affairs. The Park District completed park expansion in 2004 after acquiring land from the Board of Education. The Chicago Park District and Mount Greenwood Advisory Council worked with elected officials to raise $1.2 million for a fully accessible soft surface playground dedicated in 2008. The playground includes interactive art components which were designed by local artists through the Chicago Public Art Group. Community workshops inspired the artworks which range from a series of mosaic obelisks to metal sculptural musical elements.