Wicker Park: Then and Now

Did you know CPL's Digital Collections include 10,000 photos from Chicago's parks? Not all the photos from Wicker Park include a date, but I estimated that they range from about 1900 to perhaps the 1990s based on when certain changes were made to the park and the style of clothes people wore.

On a sunny day this fall, I took my camera (really, just my phone) to Wicker Park to take some updated pictures. The Gurgoyle Fountain was not flowing, but you can see that the shape of the fountain basin has remained the same. The fountain piece in the center has gone through several changes, though. Due to the pandemic, there were no crowds like there were in some of the old photos, and even the statue of Charles Gustave Wicker was wearing a face mask.

Explore more photos of Wicker Park and the Chicago Park District through our Chicago Park District: Photographs Collection in the Special Collections and Preservation Division at Harold Washington Library Center.