Buffalo Park
Welcome to Buffalo Park!
Sunny days at  Buffalo Playlot Park
Sunny days at Buffalo Playlot Park
Location:

4501 N. California Ave.
Chicago, IL 60625

Supervisor: Deb Groh (Horner Park)
Phone Numbers: Main (773) 478-3499

 

Hours

Park Hours
Weekday Time slot Comment
Sunday: 6:00 am-11:00 pm
Monday: 6:00 am-11:00 pm
Tuesday: 6:00 am-11:00 pm
Wednesday: 6:00 am-11:00 pm
Thursday: 6:00 am-11:00 pm
Friday: 6:00 am-11:00 pm
Saturday: 6:00 am-11:00 pm

Description

Buffalo Park is one of many park properties used only for passive recreation. This small tranquil park is 0.23 acres and is set in the beautiful Ravenswood Manor community at California/Sunnyside/Manor.

Visit nearby Horner Park for programming options.

History

By an overwhelming majority, residents of the Ravenswood Manor and Ravenswood Gardens neighborhoods voted to create their own independent park district in 1914. Although these were comfortable, middle-class neighborhoods, the Ravenswood Manor Gardens Park District had limited financial resources because it could collect no more than 3% of the assessed property valuation within its 1/4-mile territory. The new park district could only afford to create very small parks, which emphasized landscape improvements, rather than recreational facilities. In 1915, the Ravenswood Manor Gardens Park District acquired the land and began creating a .07-acre park on a triangular property between Sunnyside and California Avenues and Manor Drive. The following year, Charles J. Nilson, a local contractor and cement finisher was hired to create a fountain in the tiny new park. Because Nilson's circular fountain included three ornamental buffalo heads, the site soon became known as Buffalo Park. Buffalo Park became part of the Chicago Park District in 1934, when the Great Depression necessitated the consolidation of the City's 22 independent park agencies. In the late 1930s, Park District improvements included a fanciful perennial garden, which surrounded the fountain. Unfortunately, the fountain soon suffered from severe deterioration and by the early 1950s, both the fountain and garden had been removed.

Advisory Council

Contact: Peter Schlossman,   Horner PAC President
Meeting Details:

1st Monday of the month @ 7pm, Horner Park

Parking/Directions

For directions using public transportation visit www.transitchicago.com.

Map & Facilities

Buffalo Park

4501 N. California Ave.
Chicago, IL 60625
United States

:
(773) 478-3499