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#TBT: Warren Park in West Ridge Started as Edgewater Golf Course

By Tanveer Ali | July 2, 2015 5:39am
 Edgewater Golf Club in 1938.
Edgewater Golf Club in 1938.
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United States Geological Survey

WEST RIDGE — The Park District's Robert A. Black Golf Course in West Ridge had its roots in Edgewater.

The private Edgewater Golf Club opened in 1897 and eventually opened a nine-hole course on Sheridan Road near Loyola's current North Side campus.

In 1912, the golf club moved from Edgewater to an area bounded by Pratt Boulevard, Hamilton Avenue, Western Avenue and Ridge Avenue.

1911 map showing proposed move of Edgewater Golf Club. [Chicago History Museum]

There's some question as to why this occurred. Glenna Eaves, a neighborhood history expert with Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society, says it was a matter of space. At the time West Ridge was a sparsely developed area, more backcountry than city.

But Jacob Kaplan, editor of Forgotten Chicago, also points out that the land occupied by the course in Edgewater was too valuable and needed to be developed.

Rogers Park in 1949. [Chicago History Museum]

Decades later, between 1965 and 1975, the West Ridge site was the center of controversy. Developers wanted to turn the area into high-rise apartments and a shopping center, a move that met major local opposition.

Eventually, the state took over the western part of the site. In 1972, the Park District condemned the eastern end of the site intending to keep it as open space.

Three years later, all of what is now Warren Park and Robert A. Black Golf Course became city property, according to the Chicago Park District.

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