At the turn of the 20th century, the idea of building and maintaining a ring of parks or nature preserves around urban areas was not new. In the 1860s, densely populated cities across the United States planned for expansive parks within their borders or on the outskirts of town. Central Park in New York City and Forest Park in St. Louis, Missouri are two examples of this trend in early urban planning.
For Chicago, the creation of the South, West, and Lincoln Park Commissions in 1869 was a first step in establishing large parks for urban residents. The parks created by those commissions stretched beyond what were then Chicago’s municipal boundaries. They later became Lincoln Park on the north side, Douglas, Garfield and Humboldt Parks on the west side, and Jackson and Washington Parks on the south side. A system of boulevards eventually connected these parks. By the time of the Chicago Fire in 1871, each of these three independent commissions had begun negotiating land purchases, condemning property, and issuing special assessments in their districts. With the help of Frederick Law Olmsted, the South Park system alone spanned more than a thousand acres in the suburban village of Hyde Park.

By the 1880s, Chicagoans and suburbanites could travel to these parks either by carriage, trolley, or rail. Situated on the edge of and just outside the city’s boundaries, the parks offered picnic grounds and other recreation spots. The enthusiasm of the 1860s faded during the following decades, however. In 1871, Chicago ranked second in acreage dedicated to urban park use nationally. In 1899, it ranked thirtieth.

Things had begun to change with the 1893 World Columbian Exposition, which heralded Chicago as an exemplar of the possibilities of city planning in an industrialized world. The exposition revived interest in park development and inspired the formation of neighborhood improvement clubs. These improvement clubs lobbied local officials for more parks, especially in densely-populated parts of the city. But tearing down tenements, purchasing urban land, and building playgrounds and parks were costly endeavors, especially during the depression of the 1890s.