Situated at the edge of the Ohio Street Beach next to the Near North Community and the Navy Pier, Jane Addams Park offers 4.31 acres of quiet beauty. The park’s namesake is Jane Addams, the Nobel Peace Prize Winner who created Hull House. Hull House was the country’s first settlement house, located on the Near West Side in a poor immigrant neighborhood.
Chicago created a municipal pier between 1914 and 1916, but it was soon put to use as a naval training site during World War I. It was renamed Navy Pier in 1927, and in 1959, the Chicago Park District acquired Navy Pier Park. In 1996, the park was redesignated to Jane Addams Memorial Park. Addams work provided much-needed social services and opportunities to Chicago’s struggling immigrants. Addams promoted legal reform, as well, and succeeded in created the first juvenile-court law and the eight-hour work day for women.
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