Washington Park

Washington Park is a 367-acre public park on Chicago's South Side, bounded by 51st Street, 60th Street, Cottage Grove Avenue and King Drive. It began in 1871 as the Western Division of South Park, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, and was named in 1881. Its figure-eight circuit drives, the Mere lagoon, the Pool, the tree-lined Mall, the Seven Hills landscape and the South Open Green still follow the original design closely. Historic structures include the 1880 Stables/Roundhouse by Burnham & Root, the oldest building in the park, a 1904 brick comfort station, two bridges to Bynum Island and Lorado Taft's 1922 Fountain of Time. The park is recognized because Jackson Park was reshaped for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition and the Midway Plaisance was never completed as planned, leaving Washington Park as the best-preserved example of Olmsted's South Park concept. It sits at the south end of the Bronzeville community.