Columbus Park

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The circle ring at Columbus Park, designed by landscape architect Jens Jensen.
© James Iska

Columbus Park

500 South Central Avenue

Chicago, IL

Website:  Chicago Park District – Columbus Park

Columbus Park:  The Prairie Idealized

The Treasure:  Celebrated landscape architect Jens Jensen considered this 135-acre park to be his finest achievement.

Accessibility:  Columbus Park is open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends.

Background:  “You cannot put a French garden or an English garden or a German or an Italian garden in America and have it express America…  Nor can you transpose a Florida or Iowa garden to California and have it feel true, or a New England garden to Maine.  Each type of landscape must have its own individual expression.”

                                                Jens Jensen (1860-1951)

                                                Quoted in the Saturday Evening Post,

March 8, 1930

The children's shelter in the playground area
at Columbus Park.  © James Iska

One of only a few urban parks listed in its entirety as a National Historic Landmark, Columbus Park is Jens Jensen’s iconic Chicago park.  Nearly all the groundbreaking ideas that Jensen pioneered were integrated into the landscape design that Jensen realized in this park on the western side of the city.  In Columbus Park, he incorporated native plants, molded existing features of the landscape to heighten their effects, celebrated American ideals of democracy and community, and provided opportunities for recreation, relaxation, and even spirituality for city dwellers.  Jensen had a larger canvas to work with than usual (144 acres in its original conception) and he took full advantage of the opportunities presented.

Originally farmland, the property was acquired by Chicago’s West Park Commission with the intention of creating a major park to serve Chicago’s fast-growing west side.  Jensen was the biggest name in the region when it came to landscape architecture, having served as West Park Commission General Superintendent and Chief Landscape Architect and then moved on to acclaimed work in private practice.  He was a man ahead of his time, with a very distinctive vision of the future of American landscape architecture.

The creation of Columbus Park was a five-year project running from 1915 through 1920.  In designing the park, Jensen carefully studied the existing landscape to build upon its natural attributes.  He placed a nine-hole golf course and other athletic fields within a relatively flat expanse that was to recall the native prairies.  Along the outskirts, he planted small groves of native trees and vegetation.  Inspired by traces of ancient sand dunes, he introduced an artificial prairie river, two attractive waterfalls, and two brooks.  Jensen incorporated a children’s playground area, a wading pool, an outdoor theater, and one of his most distinctive elements—a council ring where local folk could gather for talk and entertainment.

The council ring before restoration.
Photo courtesy of
Chicago Park District

By its nature, landscape architecture is difficult to preserve.  This has been particularly true for Columbus Park which was significantly changed by the construction of the Eisenhower Expressway in the 1950s which lopped off some southern acreage and led to rearrangement of the athletic facilities.  The 2002 Save America’s Treasures grant offered a rallying point for renewal, meshing nicely with other city and neighborhood initiatives.  Save America’s Treasures work focused upon the restoration of the historic children’s playground area, the brooks and the paths around them, and the council ring.

The council ring after restoration.  © James Iska

Historic photo of the wading pool at Columbus Park.
Photo courtesy of  Chicago Park District Special Collections.

Notes from the Editor:  With nearly 100 blog entries to date, this is the first time that Tour America’s History has focused on the same artist twice.  Find more information on Jens Jensen in our entry on Jens Jensen Park in Highland Park, Illinois.

Other Recommended Sites:  Pay further Other examples of Jens Jensen’s landscape design can be appreciated at the Chicago Park District’s Humboldt Park, Garfield Park, and Douglas Park, as well as Lincoln Memorial Garden in Springfield, Illinois.

Pay further respect to the visionary genius of Jens Jensen by visiting Forest Preserve District of Cook County and the Indiana Dunes State Park and National Lakeshore.  A deeply committed conservationist, Jensen was a potent force in organizing for the preservation of natural landscapes like these in the early years of the conservation movement.

Historic photo of one of the waterfalls at Columbus Park.
Photo courtesy of Chicago Park District Special Collections.

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© 2013 Lee Price