The Chicago Park District is one of the largest municipal park systems in the United States, containing over 8,100 acres of green space. All told, the District has 580 parks, including two city conservatories, a number of historic lagoons, and the iconic Clarence Buckingham Memorial Fountain. This website allows visitors the opportunity to learn about the District's mission, history, and...

The transformation of the area east of Michigan Avenue from an industrial wasteland into the vibrant and heavily-used Millennium Park is truly a remarkable tale in Chicago's recent history. The apocryphal tale says that Mayor Richard M. Daley looked out from his dentist's office and envisioned a public park that would be comparable to other grand spaces in the city. The construction of Millennium...