Harding (George) Park

The City of Chicago acquired property and created George F. Harding Park to provide playground facilities to the rapidly changing Grand Boulevard neighborhood in 1928. Prominent early settlers established this lovely area of mansions and fine single-family houses in the 1860s and 1870s. By the turn of the century, many wealthy German-Jewish families had begun moving into the neighborhood.

Around World War I, during the "Great Migration," more than 50,000 African-Americans from the rural south moved to Chicago to find greater economic opportunities. Many of these new Chicagoans settled in Grand Boulevard. By 1925, this area had become the center of "Bronzeville," a thriving, culturally-rich neighborhood of black-owned homes and businesses.

In 1928, when George F. Harding Park opened to the public, it included playground equipment, separate playfields for boys and girls, and a small brick fieldhouse. The site remained a city park until 1957, when it was transferred to the Chicago Park District along with 200+ other city-owned parks pursuant to the Chicago Park and City Exchange of Functions Act. The park received a major playlot renovation in 1988, and in 1995, the Park District demolished the site's small brick fieldhouse.

This small park honors George F. Harding (1868-1939), who served as alderman of the 27th Ward from 1905 to 1915, and later as a state senator and county treasurer. An avid collector of art, armor, and weapons, Harding built a castle-like museum on his property at 49th and Lake Park Avenue. Between the 1964 demolition of his museum and 1981, the collection was displayed in Chicago's Crerar Library. In 1982, after the library was razed, the Art Institute of Chicago received the George F. Harding collection. This was one of the largest gifts in the museum's history.