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Humboldt Park (Chicago park)
Encyclopedia
Humboldt Park is a 207 acre (0.83770002 km²) park
located on the northwest side of Chicago
, Illinois
at 1400 North Sacramento Avenue.
The park was named for Alexander von Humboldt
, a German naturalist. William Le Baron Jenney
began developing the park in the 1870s, molding a flat prairie
landscape into a "pleasure ground" with horse trails and a pair of lagoon
s. The park opened to the public in 1877, but landscape architects such as Jens Jensen
made significant additions to the park over the next few decades. Between 1905 and 1920, Jensen connected the two lagoons with a river, planted a rose garden, and built a fieldhouse, boathouse, and music pavilion.
The park played a prominent role in the past for Chicago's Polish Community. The Polish Constitution Day Parade
once traditionally terminated here at the Tadeusz Kosciuszko
statue that was located here before it was moved to Solidarity Promenade on the lakefront Museum Campus in 1981. Additionally, pianist and Polish statesman Ignace Paderewski delivered a famous address where he rallied Chicagoans to the cause of a free and independent Poland.
The park was added to the National Register of Historic Places
in 1992. The boathouse pavilion was named a Chicago Landmark
on November 13, 1996. The Humboldt Park Stables and Receptory became a Chicago Landmark
on February 6, 2008.
, Puerto Rican leaders in Chicago leased the historic Humboldt Park stables near Paseo Boricua
that will house the Institute of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture. About $3.4 million was spent to renovate the exterior of the building and another $3.2 million for the interior.
The facility is scheduled to open in 2009.
Additionally, the park was once home to a statue of Tadeusz Kosciuszko
by Kazimierz Chodzinski that was built thanks to funds raised by Chicago's Polish community and moved in 1981 to the city's lakefront.
Park
A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...
located on the northwest side of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
at 1400 North Sacramento Avenue.
The park was named for Alexander von Humboldt
Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt...
, a German naturalist. William Le Baron Jenney
William Le Baron Jenney
William Le Baron Jenney was an American architect and engineer who became known as the Father of the American skyscraper.- Life and career :...
began developing the park in the 1870s, molding a flat prairie
Prairie
Prairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type...
landscape into a "pleasure ground" with horse trails and a pair of lagoon
Lagoon
A lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...
s. The park opened to the public in 1877, but landscape architects such as Jens Jensen
Jens Jensen (landscape architect)
Jens Jensen was a Danish-American landscape architect.-Early life:Jens Jensen was born near Dybbøl in Slesvig, Denmark, in 1860, to a wealthy farming family. For the first nineteen years of his life he lived on his family's farm, which cultivated his love for the natural environment...
made significant additions to the park over the next few decades. Between 1905 and 1920, Jensen connected the two lagoons with a river, planted a rose garden, and built a fieldhouse, boathouse, and music pavilion.
The park played a prominent role in the past for Chicago's Polish Community. The Polish Constitution Day Parade
Polish Constitution Day Parade
The Polish Constitution Day Parade in Chicago is the largest Polish parade outside of Poland, and celebrates the anniversary of the ratification of the Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791, which historian Norman Davies calls "the first constitution of its kind in Europe".For 115 years, Polonia's...
once traditionally terminated here at the Tadeusz Kosciuszko
Tadeusz Kosciuszko
Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko was a Polish–Lithuanian and American general and military leader during the Kościuszko Uprising. He is a national hero of Poland, Lithuania, the United States and Belarus...
statue that was located here before it was moved to Solidarity Promenade on the lakefront Museum Campus in 1981. Additionally, pianist and Polish statesman Ignace Paderewski delivered a famous address where he rallied Chicagoans to the cause of a free and independent Poland.
The park was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1992. The boathouse pavilion was named a Chicago Landmark
Chicago Landmark
Chicago Landmark is a designation of the Mayor of Chicago and the Chicago City Council for historic buildings and other sites in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historical, economic, architectural, artistic, cultural,...
on November 13, 1996. The Humboldt Park Stables and Receptory became a Chicago Landmark
Chicago Landmark
Chicago Landmark is a designation of the Mayor of Chicago and the Chicago City Council for historic buildings and other sites in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historical, economic, architectural, artistic, cultural,...
on February 6, 2008.
Institute of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture
With the support of Chicago's Puerto Rican communityPuerto Ricans in Chicago
Puerto Ricans in Chicago are people living in Chicago who have citizenship or ancestral connections to the island of Puerto Rico. They have contributed to the economic, social and cultural well-being of Chicago for more than seventy years.- History :...
, Puerto Rican leaders in Chicago leased the historic Humboldt Park stables near Paseo Boricua
Paseo Boricua
Paseo Boricua is a street section in the West Side of Chicago. It is located on Division Street, between Western Avenue and California Avenue, in the neighborhood of Humboldt Park, more commonly known as little Puerto Rico...
that will house the Institute of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture. About $3.4 million was spent to renovate the exterior of the building and another $3.2 million for the interior.
The facility is scheduled to open in 2009.
Statues
- Near the boathouse stands a ten-foot-tall monument of the park's namesake, Alexander von HumboldtAlexander von HumboldtFriedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt...
. Sculpted by Felix Gorling and donated by Francis Dewes, the statue encompasses a globe, a twig in his right hand, a lizard atop a manuscript, and plants at his feet. These inclusions were to symbolize Humboldt's travels and role in establishing geophysics and physical geography sciences.
- At the east entrance to the park, a pair of bronze American bisonAmerican BisonThe American bison , also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds...
face the gardens. The sculptor, Edward KemeysEdward KemeysEdward L. Kemeys was an American sculptor.He is best known for his sculptures of animals, particularly the two bronze lions that mark the entrance to the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago Illinois.-Life:...
, also known for the lions at the entrance of the Art Institute of ChicagoArt Institute of ChicagoThe School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
, created the Bison for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. The bronze reproductions of the Bison were created by Jules Bercham. They have been sitting in Humboldt Park's formal garden since 1915.
- The German AmericanGerman AmericanGerman Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...
residents of Chicago commissioned to have a monument created of Fritz ReuterFritz ReuterFritz Reuter was a novelist from Northern Germany who was one of the most prominent contributors to Low German literature.-Early life:...
, a German novelist and political martyr. The German American sculptor for this monument, Franz Engelsman had also originally created four relief plaques depicting Reuter's achievements that were placed at the base of the sculpture. However, they were stolen in the 1930s and never salvaged.
- The Leif EricsonLeif EricsonLeif Ericson was a Norse explorer who is regarded as the first European to land in North America , nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus...
monument is a bronze Viking sculpture set atop a granite boulder in Humboldt Park. Some believe Ericson to be the first European to discover North AmericaNorth AmericaNorth America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. The Norwegian AmericanNorwegian AmericanNorwegian Americans are Americans of Norwegian descent. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the later half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the 20th century. There are more than 4.5 million Norwegian Americans according to the most recent U.S. census, and...
community of Chicago commissioned for his monument and was sculpted by the Norwegian artist Sigvald Asbjornsen.
Additionally, the park was once home to a statue of Tadeusz Kosciuszko
Tadeusz Kosciuszko
Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko was a Polish–Lithuanian and American general and military leader during the Kościuszko Uprising. He is a national hero of Poland, Lithuania, the United States and Belarus...
by Kazimierz Chodzinski that was built thanks to funds raised by Chicago's Polish community and moved in 1981 to the city's lakefront.
External links
- Humboldt Park entry from the Encyclopedia of Chicago
- Description of Humboldt Park at the Chicago Park District website