Jackson Park (Chicago)

Jackson Park is a large public park on Chicago’s South Side along Lake Michigan and is best known as the site of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. The park’s landscape and surviving buildings make it one of the city’s historically important lakefront green spaces.

The park includes extensive lagoons, promenades and shoreline access along Lake Michigan. A major highlight is the Museum of Science and Industry, housed in the Palace of Fine Arts built for the 1893 exposition. The park also connects to the Midway Plaisance, which historically formed part of the exposition grounds and remains an important link in the South Side park system.

Originally laid out and influenced by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and developed for the World’s Columbian Exposition, the park’s design and many of its civic uses date to the late 19th century. After the fair, portions of the site were retained and adapted as public parkland and institutional uses.

Jackson Park sits on Chicago’s lakefront east of the Hyde Park and Woodlawn neighborhoods, adjacent to the University of Chicago area and the Midway Plaisance.

• 1893 World's Columbian Exposition: Holds the footprint and surviving landscape features of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, which shaped much of the park's layout.
• Palace of Fine Arts / Museum: Contains a major science museum housed in the exposition's Palace of Fine Arts building, visible from the lakefront.
• Obama Presidential Center: Designated site for the planned Obama Presidential Center, which is located on the park's southern side and has been subject to planning and review processes.

What to See #

• Museum of Science and Industry: Located in the Beaux-Arts Palace of Fine Arts originally built for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition; occupies the park's eastern edge along Lake Michigan.
• Osaka Garden: A Japanese-style garden on the park's lakefront created as a cultural gift and set amid the park's lagoon system.
• Midway Plaisance: A linear park that connects Jackson Park to Washington Park; historically part of the same landscape project and the 1893 exposition site.