Location:
7535 S. Dobson Ave.
Chicago, IL 60619
Supervisor:
Valerie Lyons (Grand Crossing Park)
Phone Numbers:
Main
(312) 747-6158
Hours
Park Hours
Description
Located in the Greater Grand Crossing Community Area, Adams Park totals 1.01 acres and is a park location used for passive recreation. Park patrons can relax in this open green space while enjoying the beauty of nature.
History
In 1881, the City of Chicago acquired a triangular property in Greater Grand Crossing from the community's original developer, Paul Cornell. A quarter-century later, renowned landscape architect Jens Jensen, a member of the City's Special Park Commission, reported that the triangle had deteriorated into "a truck garden in a mud hole, surrounded by ditches...into which the sewage emptied." He further described it as "the site of a dog pound, with other sorry-looking shacks for ornament, all bordered by a rotten plank walk on two sides." In 1907, Jensen began improving the site with proper drainage, substantial walks, trees, and shrubbery. In subsequent years, the Commission seeded the lawns, planted additional trees, and installed a drinking fountain. Between the early 1920s and the mid-1940s, the depressed lawn was flooded in winter for ice skating.
In 1957, the City transferred Adams Park to the Chicago Park District pursuant to the Chicago Park and City Exchange of Functions Act. The Chicago Park District has maintained it as a greenspace for passive recreation ever since. The origin of the Adams Park name is unclear. Hyde Park historian Steve Treffman believes the park may have been named for John C. Adams, an official of the Cornell Watch Company, which stood across 76th Street from the park around 1900.