Location:
4922 S. Throop St.
Chicago, IL 60609
Supervisor:
Francisco Rodriguez (Davis Square Park)
Phone Numbers:
Main
(312) 747-6107
Hours
Park Hours
Description
This small playground is located in the New City Community Area. The park totals 1.07 acres and features a playground with a water spray feature, swings, and a basketball court. It is an active community park.
While there is no structured programming taking place at this location, we invite you to check out our great programs offered at nearby Davis Square Park.
History
Previously known as Throop Park, Back of the Yards Park is one of many small City parks created to meet the growing recreational demands of post-World War II Chicago. The City's Bureau of Parks and Recreation developed this Lower West Side park in the late 1940s, improving it with a gravel-surfaced playground and a spray pool. Within a few years, a basketball court was added.
The City transferred Back of the Yards Park to the Chicago Park District in 1957 pursuant to the Chicago Park and City Exchange of Functions Act. In 1976, the Park District thoroughly rehabilitated the site, building a shelter, enhancing the plantings, and constructing bleachers around the resurfaced basketball court. Subsequent improvements included a soft surface playground and ornamental fencing. In 1998, the Park District enlarged the park by expanding into an adjacent vacant lot.
In 1999, the Park District renamed this site Back of the Yards Park to avoid confusion with a second Throop Park to the north. Back of the Yards was the name historically used for what is now known as the New City Community Area. The area was so named because it lay east, south, and west of the enormous Union Stock Yards, which provided jobs for the neighborhood's many immigrant residents. Opened in 1865 and paid for by nine Chicago railroads, the Union Stock Yards and Transit Company consolidated the city's four major stockyards in one location. In 1871 alone, the Yards received over 500,000 cattle and nearly 2,400,000 hogs.
Map & Facilities
Back of the Yards Playground
Back of the Yards Basketball Court - Outdoor
Back of the Yards Spray Pool
