Green (Jeffrey) Park

Located on land once owned by Billy Caldwell, an early Chicagoan of Irish and Native American blood, Edgebrook Park, as it was previously known, takes its name from the surrounding Edgebrook Manor subdivision, created in 1922. Seven years later in 1930, the developers donated a triangle of land along the Chicago, Milwaukee, & St. Paul Railroad tracks to the City of Chicago for use as parkland. By the close of World War II, the City had expanded the park, then known as Edgebrook Manor Triangle, into the right-of-way of adjacent Kinzua Avenue by vacating Kinzua Avenue in 1933, adding a tennis court. In the early 1950s, the City’s Bureau of Parks and Recreation removed the tennis court and installed a basketball court and playground equipment. The City transferred Edgebrook Park to the Chicago Park District in 1957, along with 200+ parks pursuant to the Chicago Park and City Exchange of Functions Act.  In 1964, the park was expanded through land acquisition.  The Park District rehabilitated the playground in 1965, and again in 1990.

In the mid-1990s, a library was proposed at Edgebrook Park.  In response, local resident and environmentalist Jeffrey S. Green (1938-1999) successfully prevented the potential loss of parkland by finding another location for the community library. In 2000, the Park District recognized Green's efforts by naming the park in his honor. Green also left his mark on the city as a whole. A life-long environmental activist, Green was a founder and president of Friends of the Chicago River, an organization whose goal is to revitalize the river. He was also a board member of Friends of the Parks for over six years and served as the organization's president. As a leader of both groups, Green worked diligently to improve Chicago's parks.