Landscape Information
At 61 acres, Sherman Park is one of the largest of ten South-Side neighborhood parks designed by Olmsted Brothers in 1904 (the others include Ogden, Palmer, Bessemer, and Hamilton Parks, and Russell, Davis, Armour, Cornell, and Mark White Squares). John Charles Olmsted drafted the model for this series of parks, which focused on active recreation and were part of a reform-minded, nation-wide campaign to provide crowded neighborhoods with "breathing spaces" and venues for socialization.
The most significant feature in Sherman Park's design—distinctive in Olmsted Brother's park commissions—is a closed-loop lagoon that roughly parallels the site’s rectangular boundaries and covers two-thirds of the park. The island meadow created by the Picturesque lagoon accommodates playing fields, with thinly planted stands of canopy trees around its perimeter. In all four corners of the park, neoclassical stone pedestrian bridges provide access to the island and connect to an oval, vehicular drive that circulates around the park. A gentle berm buffers the park from the surrounding streets.
Athletic facilities and a fieldhouse designed by D.H. Burham & Company are positioned in a more formally designed landscape on the northern section of the park. The classical buildings are linked with a pergola that unifies the complex. The park was named in honor of John B. Sherman, founder of the Union Stock Yards and member of the South Park Commission for 25 years.
Sherman Park is a contributing feature of the Historic Resources of the Chicago Park District listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1990 and the Chicago Park Boulevard System Historic District listed in 2018. It was listed individually in 1990.
