Birds soar above a wetland and deer graze in the woods. Strolling this 46-acre nature preserve, one would hardly guess that you’re in the Chicago city limits. North Park Village Nature Center is a hidden gem on the city’s northwest side. Yet visitors may not realize that the tranquil park is built on the grounds of a former tuberculosis sanitorium.
The Roots of North Park Village
Today, the 155-acre North Park Village campus is home to a nature preserve, educational facility, school, and sports fields. However, Native Americans were the first to settle the area where wild onion and leek grew.
In the 1850s, a Norwegian immigrant named Pehr Samuel Petersen built a tree nursery on the land. He provided trees for Lincoln Park and many of Chicago’s parkways as well as the 1893 World’s Fair. He was even knighted by the King of Sweden! Peterson died in 1903, and his family gave the city 160 acres of the land to build a tuberculosis sanitarium.
Largest Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium
Tuberculosis was on the rise during the early 20th century, so officials established a sanitarium for patients to live and receive treatment. Before a drug treatment existed, doctors believed that open spaces and fresh air were the best cure for patients. Peterson’s land was on the outskirts of Chicago at the time, allowing patients to leave the crowded city and isolate in a country-like setting at no cost to them.
When the Chicago Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium opened in 1915, 10,000 Chicagoans were infected with tuberculosis. While many sanitoriums were built in the dry air of western states, Chicago’s was the largest municipal sanitorium in the country at 950 beds.
“It was a remarkable accomplishment for the city to build a world-class public sanitarium — the first to have a maternity ward.” – Frances Archer, sanitorium historian
Architects Clark and Otis and landscape architect Ossian Cole Simonds designed a self-contained community with an emphasis on light, air, and the outdoors. The compound included residences, an auditorium, maternity ward, nursery, gardens, farmland, and greenhouses.
Patients who were well enough lived in cabins in the woods scattered throughout what is now the nature preserve. Access to the forest trails, pond, and recreational fields was thought to contribute to their recovery.
Chicago’s First Nature Center
By the 1960s, tuberculosis was mostly eradicated and the sanitorium closed in 1974. A developer planned to replace the buildings and landscape with a commercial shopping center. Community activists protested, and eventually the city repurposed the buildings and preserved the natural areas. This easement is set to last for 75 years, but activists are working to extend it.
Today, a modest 2.5-mile hiking trail winds visitors through a wetland, prairie, forest, and oak savanna. The Nature Center offers interactive displays and Walking Stick Woods encourages kids to explore 12 acres of trails and nature play areas. The first nature center within the city of Chicago offers events and programming for all ages while enjoying this wilderness oasis. Don’t miss the Maple Syrup Festival which taps the trees that Peterson planted here long ago.
History Preserved
Yet, if you know where to look, there are still signs of the area’s days as a sanitorium. The brick building that serves as the Nature Center was originally the sanitorium’s medication dispensary. The main loop trail was a road connecting some sanitorium buildings and patient cabins, and keen-eyed visitors can still spot sewers, sidewalks and old building foundations.
I haven’t yet had luck accessing the tunnel system that connected the main buildings for bad-weather travel and transporting supplies, but a girl can dream.
Elsewhere on the campus, the handsome brick sanitorium buildings have been repurposed. The sanitorium’s morgue is now a field house. The former auditorium is a Chicago Park District gymnastics center. The crematorium is now the boiler room. The former hospital is now senior citizen housing. The compound also includes athletic fields, playgrounds, and a high school for the developmentally disabled.
Visit North Park Village Nature Center
A setting that once offered innovative healthcare continues to provide Chicagoans with fresh air, open spaces, and access to nature. North Park Village Nature Center is free to visit and open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Want to discover other hidden places in Chicago? Check out my book Secret Chicago!
North Park Village Nature Center
5801 N. Pulaski Rd.
Chicago, IL 60646
Sources
- Gunderson, Erica. “Ask Geoffrey: The Story Behind the Chicago Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium.” WTTW News, 30 Apr. 2020.
- Johnson, Steve. “100 Years for North Park Village, a Former Tuberculosis Sanitarium.” Chicagotribune.com, Chicago Tribune, 29 Apr. 2015.
- Keranen, Knox. “From Sanitarium to Nature Preserve, a Story of Community Organization.” ChicagoTalks, 23 Apr. 2018.
- “North Park Village Nature Center Park.” Chicago Park District.
- Sachs, Theodore B. “Provision for Infants in Chicago Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium.” Journal of the American Medical Association, 2 Jan. 1915.
Jessica Mlinaric founded Urban Explorer in 2010 to inspire curious travelers by highlighting history, culture, and hidden gems in Chicago and beyond. She is the author of ‘Secret Chicago’ and ‘Chicago Scavenger.’ Jessica has visited 20+ countries and 30+ U.S. states. She has more than 16 years of experience as a marketing strategist and works as a freelance writer and photographer.
