4. Plat of Morgan Park, about 1905

Morgan Park's streets are bisected by the two lines of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, the main line on the east and the suburban line on the west. The curved streets are on the slope of the Blue Island ridge, contrasting sharply with the rectangular grid of the level plain to the east.

(From *Homes for the People*, published by Blue Island Land and Building Company. Courtesy Chicago Historical Society.)

5. Transportation Facilities—"The Way We Get to Morgan Park"

Appearing in a Morgan Park Real Estate brochure, these two cuts with their original captions emphasized the attraction of the suburb. The monthly fare was low, $5.25 per month, and "when the change of season requires it" riders would find "a warm car and a roomy seat."

6. Depot at Morgan Park

(From *Homes for the People*, published by Blue Island Land and Building Company, Courtesy Chicago Historical Society.)

4

The way we get to Morgan Park.

The way the city people get to their homes.

6

## A BRIEF HISTORY

In 1837, when Chicago selected its Otto Urbs in Horta ("City in a Garden"), there were very few parks here. This was not uncommon: New York City did not start building Central Park until the 1850s, and construction of Boston's "emerald necklace" did not begin until 30 years after that.

So in 1849, when Chicago developer John S. Wright proposed a vast network of parks and boulevards with the hopes of encouraging development, he was suggesting something new:

> Of these parks I have a vision. They are all improved and connected with a wide avenue extending to and along the Lake shore on the north and south, and so surrounding the city with a magnificent chain of parks and parkways that have not their equal in the World.

It took two decades for Wright's innovative idea to gain public support. The 1869 Illinois "parks bills" established three regional park commissions to create a unified system of parks linked by pleasure drives.

The South Commission hired Frederick Law Olmsted, America's premier landscape architect, who styled landscapes with informal groupings of trees and meandering pathways. The West Commission's lead designer was William LeBaron Jenney, whose formal rows of trees complemented the geometric paths he planned. Later, Jens Jensen, founder of Prairie-style landscape architecture, created a more natural look for the west parks and boulevards using native plantings.
Legal challenges precluded construction of the North Commission's design for Diversey Parkway.

Much of Chicago's boulevard system was constructed during the real estate boom of the late 19th century. As these boulevards were completed, they became popular recreational and social destinations. Chicagoans promenaded and rode horses and carriages along the smoothest roads of their era. As John Wright and others had hoped, the boulevards gradually attracted residential

DREXEL BOULEVARD, CIRCA 1870

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A. 12-22-20

developers. The most magnificent mansions were built along Grand (now King Drive) and Drexel boulevards.

When Chicago held the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Jackson Park and along the Midway Plaisance, it showcased a grand park system that few American cities could match. Inspired by this display, Kansas City, Minneapolis, and Washington, D.C., initiated the development of their own park and parkway systems.

In the early 1930s, the three park commissions were consolidated to become the Chicago Park District. The Park District maintained the boulevards until 1959, when the responsibility was turned over to the City of Chicago. Today, the parks and boulevards remain a testament to the vision that helped establish Chicago as a national model.

# CHICAGO'S BOULEVARDS

Care one of the city's most overlooked treasures, and one of the largest and oldest boulevard systems in the nation. The 28-mile system contains 540 acres of green space, and provides a link between seven inland parks and Lake Michigan.

Although originally built on Chicago's outskirts, the boulevards today encircle the heart of the city and are within three blocks of the homes of one out of every six Chicago residents. The longest boulevard segment is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive (4.5 miles), while the shortest is Central Park (less than one mile). The widest is the Midway Plaisance (750 feet); the narrowest, Diversey Parkway (66 feet).

Background photo: Midway Plaisance, circa 1910 Chicago Historical Society (CH-20806)

LORADO TAFT'S FOUNTAIN OF TIME

Chicago Park District Special Collections

## MONUMENTS

### A Drexel Fountain

1881, Henry Manger
One of the oldest in the city, this fountain honors Francis Drexel, a Philadelphia banker who donated the land for Drexel Boulevard.

### B Fountain of Time

1922, Lorado Taft
The masterpiece of one of Chicago's foremost sculptors, this depiction of the "Ages of Man" took 14 years to complete.

### C Carl von Linne Monument

1891, Johan Dyfverman
This monument depicts the Swedish botanist who originated the modern scientific classification system for plants and animals.

### D Masaryk Memorial

1949, Albin Polasek
This statue of the medieval knight, St. Wenceslaus, was dedicated to Thomas Masaryk, Czechoslovakia's first president and a former University of Chicago faculty member.

### E Victory Monument

1927, Leonard Crunelle
Dedicated to members of the Eighth Regiment of the Illinois National Guard (an African-American unit) who died in service during World War I. The "doughboy" was added in 1936.

### F Washington Memorial

1904, Daniel Chester French and Edward Clark Potter
This statue of George Washington at the time of the Revolutionary War is a duplicate of one in Paris.

### G Vietnam Veterans Marker

This marker and flag pole were commissioned by the Gage Park Civic Association in 1983.

### H McKinley Monument

1905, Charles J. Mulligan
This statue was installed in honor of President William McKinley, who was assassinated in 1901.

### I Marquette Monument

1926, Hermon Atkins MacNeil
Jacques Marquette, Louis Jolliet, and an Algonquin Indian are depicted as they explored the Illinois River Valley in 1673.

### J One Family-One World

1979, Sidney Murphy
This sculpture was designed by the winner of a local high school student design competition.

### K Independence Fountain

1902, Charles J. Mulligan
This fountain honors American youth and Independence Day. Four children are depicted celebrating the Fourth of July.

### L Illinois Centennial Column

1918, Henry Bacon
This monument, which honored 100 years of Illinois statehood, was designed by the architect of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Evelyn Longman sculpted the eagle.

## Ping Tom Memorial Park

The Chicago Park District acquired the site for Ping Tom Memorial Park in 1991 to provide open space and recreational facilities to the surrounding Chinatown community. The 12-acre site was originally a Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad yard located along the edge of the South Branch of the Chicago River. The adjacent Pennsylvania Railroad Bridge, one of the city's few remaining operable vertical lift bridges, still carries passenger and freight trains southbound out of Chicago. In 1998, the Chicago Park District began transforming the old railyard into a beautiful rolling green space, taking full advantage of impressive river views. The park has a children's playground, community gathering areas, and Chinese landscape design elements.

The park was named in honor of the leading force behind its creation, Chinatown's most noted civic leader, Ping Tom (1935 - 1995). A life-long resident of Chinatown, Ping Tom became president of several businesses in the community after earning degrees in economics and law from Northwestern University. In 1984, he and other business leaders formed the Chinese American Development Corporation. This private real estate firm transformed a 32-acre railyard site into Chinatown Square, a $100 million dollar residential and commercial expansion of Chinatown. Ping Tom was founding president of the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, 1983, a past president and director of the Chinese American Civic Council, and an advisory board member of the Chinese American Service League. Ping Tom served as trustee for a number of important civic and cultural institutions. He was also an advisor to U.S. senators, Illinois governors and Chicago mayors.

Photograph of Ping Tom, Courtesy of the Tom family.

## Ping Tom Memorial Park