Humboldt Park Lagoon and Prairie River Loop

Humboldt Park is 207-acres on the West Side of Chicago and is named for Alexander von Humboldt, a German naturalist, and botanist. The Humboldt family is full of over-achievers, similar to the Morton’s of the Morton Arboretum. In the case of Alexander, there are a significant number of ‘items’ named after him, from species and geographic features to towns, universities, and … parks. Of note, my dad and his SwissCheeseTrails channel on YouTube has 360° VR Video of the Humboldt University in Berlin.

Welcome to Humbolt Park. This is a beautiful location with lots of activities. In 1869, shortly after the creation of the West Park System, neighborhood residents requested that the northernmost park be named in honor of Baron Freidrich Heinrich Alexander Von Humboldt (1759-1859), the famous German scientist and explorer. Two years later, completed plans for the entire ensemble of Humboldt, Garfield, and Douglas parks and connecting boulevards were completed by William Le Baron Jenney, who is best known today as the father of the skyscraper.

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Jens Jensen, a Danish immigrant who had begun as a laborer, worked his way up to Superintendent of Humboldt Park in the mid-1890s. Unfortunately, the West Park System was entrenched in political graft at the time. The commissioners fired Jensen in 1900 because of his efforts to fight corruption.

Five years later, during major political reforms, new commissioners appointed him General Superintendent and Chief Landscape Architect. Deteriorating and unfinished areas of Humboldt Park allowed Jensen to experiment with his evolving Prairie style. For instance, Jensen extended the park’s existing lagoon into a long meandering “prairie river.” Inspired by the natural rivers he saw on trips to the countryside, Jensen designed hidden water sources that supplied two rocky brooks that fed the waterway. Nearby he created a circular rose garden and an adjacent naturalistic perennial garden.

Jensen designated an area diagonally across from the rose garden as a music court for dances, concerts, and other special events. He commissioned Prairie School architects Schmidt, Garden, and Martin to design an impressive boat house and refectory building that still stands at one end of the historic music court.

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It’s lunchtime and we selected the Formal Garden to have our gourmet PB&J. Today’s sandwich is Sunflower Butter and Guava Jelly on fresh, homemade bread. Congratulations to my brother, Neil, for graduating from The School of Visual Arts in NYC. We’ve talked about him before and in the coming weeks, he will be hiking with us. Until then, this is his portfolio: https://neilmadlener.com

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This was a short 1.4-mile hike in the middle of Chicago. Humboldt Park is a great place for people-watching, picnicking, and playing sports.

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