Free family workshop Skinner Park
When: Wed, Oct 13, 2021 from 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM Register here
Where: Skinner (Mark) Park, 1331 W. Adams St. This event is Outdoors. May be rescheduled due to weather.
Dyeing Fabric with Garden Plants at Skinner
In this hands-on and family-friendly workshop, participants will practice various techniques for manipulating fabric to create beautiful patterns when dyed. We’ll then learn how plants found in a typical Midwestern garden can be used to create an array of subtle dye colors. Fabric and dye will be provided. Youth must be accompanied by an adult. No drop offs.
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Explore Chicago Park District Parks
About Skinner Park (redacted from Chicago Park District website)
Skinner Park totals 7.01 acres and features a small fieldhouse. The park features the Community Roots Demonstration Garden.
In 1848, as the Illinois and Michigan Canal Trustees prepared sale maps for public land to generate revenue that would be used to build the canal, they set aside a 5 ½ acre parcel to create a small park originally named Jefferson Park,
During Chicago’s earliest history, the neighborhood surrounding Jefferson Park was one of Chicago’s most fashionable areas. After the Great Fire of 1871, however, the residential area began to decline, and the park also slowly deteriorated.
The City transferred the site to the West Park Commission in 1885, and the commission substantially improved the park.
In 1915 a group of local residents petitioned for a children’s playground, wading pool, natatorium, and outdoor gymnasium. As this project would have required filling in the park’s lake, the commissioners decided not pursue it at that time.
In 1934, when the West Park Commission was consolidated into the Chicago Park District, the park became known as the “the first Jefferson Park” because the park district also took possession of another site named Jefferson Park on the city’s Northwest side.
The first Jefferson Park remained unchanged until 1955, when it was renamed in honor of the adjacent Mark Skinner School. One of Chicago’s earliest school inspectors, Mark Skinner (1836-1887) went on to serve as a U.S. attorney for Illinois, and a State Representative.
Soon after its renaming, the park’s lake was filled to make way for ball fields and a playground. In the mid 1970s, Whitney Young Magnet High School opened just southwest of the park.
Over the years, adjacent streets were greened over, and Skinner Park was expanded to slightly more than 7 acres.
