Here’s an archive photo of what Chicago-area public courses looked like in 1921.
By Phil Kosin Chicagoland Golf editor
In 1922, the Cook County Forest Preserve District was on a roll. Formed in 1913, the district had been given by state statute carte blanche to acquire open lands for public use. The Forest Preserve Act of 1913 read in part the county should:
“acquire ... and hold lands ... containing one or more natural forests or lands connecting such forests or parts thereof, for the purpose of protecting and preserving the flora, fauna and scenic beauties within such district, and to restore, restock, protect, and preserve the natural forests and said lands together with their flora and fauna, as nearly as may be, in their natural state and condition, for the purpose of the education, pleasure, and recreation of the public.”
The move showed an immense amount of foresight; today the district owns 68,000 acres, or one-fifth of the county.
Palos Park GC seen in a 1938 aerial photograph. The course’s rough boundaries on this view are 107th St. to the south, and yellow lines east and west. Also shown is the future site of Saganaskee Slough, which at the time was still farmland. The location where the U.S. government moved the world’s first nuclear reactor is west of the golf course, although the entire triangle of land was under heavy guard during WWII. Wolf Road no longer goes through to 107th. (Chicagoland Golf graphic)
