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Olson Park and Waterfall

Demolished buildings and structures in ChicagoFormer buildings and structures in Chicago
Olson rug rock garden chicago 1935 scan300
Olson rug rock garden chicago 1935 scan300

Olson Park and Waterfall was a heavily visited park and waterfall complex that was located in the Avondale community area of Chicago. It was built by Walter E. Olson, the owner of the Olson Rug Company, next to his factory and headquarters on the northwest corner of Diversey and Pulaski, and was a popular landmark for Chicago families. Built during the Great Depression the park was open to the public until it was closed in 1971 after Marshall Field bought the complex in 1965. The Chicago Tribune named Olson Park as the first of "Chicago's Seven Lost Wonders". The park's opening was famous for the fact that during its opening, the park was symbolically "deeded" back to Native Americans, observing the hundred year anniversary of the expulsion of Indians across the Mississippi River after the Blackhawk War. Today the site is occupied by a parking lot for the former Olson Rug factory and headquarters which is now occupied by the retailer Macy's. The area is near of one of Chicago's "Polish Patches", Jackowo, and the complex was a few blocks from St. Hyacinth Basilica as well as Kosciuszko Park.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Olson Park and Waterfall (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Olson Park and Waterfall
West Diversey Avenue, Chicago Avondale

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Wikipedia: Olson Park and WaterfallContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 41.932222222222 ° E -87.7275 °
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Address

West Diversey Avenue 4000
60707 Chicago, Avondale
Illinois, United States
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Olson rug rock garden chicago 1935 scan300
Olson rug rock garden chicago 1935 scan300
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Nearby Places

Kosciuszko Park (Chicago)
Kosciuszko Park (Chicago)

Kosciuszko Park is a park located at 2732 N. Avers Ave. Situated along the northern boundary of Chicago's Logan Square community area at Diversey, it is heavily frequented by residents of Avondale and is considered to be part of Jackowo. Kosciuszko Park was commissioned in 1914 and completed in 1916; the Northwest Park District, one of Chicago's many park districts of the early twentieth century, opened the park as part of its efforts to add neighborhood parks in Northwest Chicago. As the park's original layout and landscape has changed over time, the fieldhouse is the main surviving piece of its original design. Architect Albert Arthur Schwartz began the design of the building; however, he was replaced by Frederick William Bowes halfway through its construction. The two men gave the fieldhouse a Tudor Revival design with a large half-timbered gable. The fieldhouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 16, 2013.Kosciuszko Park is named after Tadeusz Kościuszko, a national hero in Poland, Lithuania, the United States and Belarus. He led the 1794 Kościuszko Uprising against Imperial Russia and the Kingdom of Prussia as Supreme Commander of the National Armed Force (Najwyższy Naczelnik Siły Zbrojnej Narodowej).Kosciuszko Park has long been a community center for Chicago's Northwest Side. The park once housed one of the Chicago Public Library's most frequented branches before it was closed in the 1950s, as well as one of the first two Polish Language Schools in Chicago, Polska Szkoła im. Tadeusza Kościuszki. The Polish School still continues to this day, albeit in a different location as it outgrew the fieldhouse facilities. The park is a few blocks from St. Hyacinth Basilica, the Hairpin Arts Center, as well as the now razed Olson Park and Waterfall.