Landscape Information
The west park system of Chicago was created in 1869. Specifically Douglass (formerly, Douglas), Garfield, and Humboldt parks and their connecting boulevards were laid out by architect William LeBaron Jenny in 1871. At Garfield, originally known as Central Park, Jenny’s plan was built-out incrementally, including its east lagoon, a suspension bridge, a small conservatory, Victorian bandstand, a horse racing track and rustic site furnishings. In 1906, Jens Jensen began his own park improvements including a new conservatory, designed to look like a Midwestern haystack, with an interior sequence of prairie style landscape spaces. Jensen also removed the race track and replaced it with a public golf course, and added a formal garden with rectangular water courts and planting beds for floral display. The Garfield Park Field House with its signature gold dome was added in 1928.
