{"nrhp_refnum":"05000875","name":"Cornell Square","other_names":["Park No. 5"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"1809 W 50th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chicago","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":41.80229197050008,"lon":-87.67109727500299,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2005-08-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Entertainment/Recreation","Social History","Architecture","Landscape Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Cornell Square (originally Park No. 5) is an 8.29-acre neighborhood park district at 1809 West 50th Street in the Back-of-the-Yards area of Chicago. Opened in August 1905 by the South Park Commission, it was designed by Olmsted Brothers and D.H. Burnham & Co.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is nationally significant as part of the South Park Commission's early 20th-century system of small parks offering recreation and social services to crowded tenement districts. The designs by Burnham & Co. and the Olmsted Brothers influenced neighborhood park development across the country. It also retains good integrity, including its recessed athletic field and field house.","narrative":"Cornell Square is an 8.29-acre neighborhood park at 1809 West 50th Street in Chicago's Back-of-the-Yards community. Originally called Park No. 5, it opened in August 1905 as one of the first ten small parks built by the South Park Commission. Olmsted Brothers designed the landscape and D.H. Burnham & Co. designed the buildings. The park centers on a field house complex of exposed aggregate concrete in Beaux Arts style, with gymnasiums, a swimming pool, a recessed athletic field, walkways, a spray pool and playgrounds. The park offered athletics, clubrooms, education and social programs to a densely populated immigrant neighborhood near the Union Stock Yards. It was listed for its role in a pioneering park system that influenced neighborhood park design nationwide, and for its architecture and landscape design. Changes include new concrete paths, replaced plantings and removal of the running track, though the layout, sunken field and many historic details remain.","period_of_significance":"1905 - 1955","architect_builder":"Burnham, D.H & Company; Olmsted Brothers","architectural_style":"Beaux Arts Classicism","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The park has deterioration and some insensitive repairs and alterations but retains good integrity; it continues to serve the community. Current functions remain park, outdoor recreation, sports facility and field house.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.040199-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/14/8910/28891014/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/05000875.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000875/4b85042b49-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000875/4b85042b49-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Thshriver","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cornell_Square_3.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Thshriver</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cornell_Square_3.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"12000040","name":"Chicago Park Boulevard System Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/illinois/chicago-park-boulevard-system-historic-district-12000040/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28891014","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornell_Square","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q85754114"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/cornell-square-05000875/"}