Look straight ahead to spot Scoville Park-just beyond the trees and sidewalk, you'll see a sturdy stone fountain with sculpted figures under a wide concrete top, and flowers planted around its base.
Welcome to Scoville Park, the heart of Oak Park's community and-if you believe the squirrels-a contender for world’s best open-air nut buffet! As you walk past the Horse Show Fountain, picture this: back in 1833, there wasn’t a park but a huge patch of wild prairie. That’s when Joseph Kettlestrings, the area’s first white settler, bought up the land from the government-a whopping 173 acres! Rumor has it he built his second home right about where you’re standing, though the plaque is a bit like a game of “Where’s Waldo?” for history buffs. Some say the real spot is a few steps west.
Skip forward a bit to 1855-imagine James Scoville, a man with a plan (and apparently, a taste for big houses). He snapped up this same land, built a grand white mansion right atop the hill, and eventually helped fund what became Oak Park’s library. But nothing lasts forever-except maybe Oak Park’s love for a good park! In 1912, with the threat of a hotel looming over these green lawns, the town banded together and bought Scoville’s estate. After a year, Scoville’s mansion was history, and the great Danish-American landscape architect Jens Jensen stepped in. He designed the park you see now-a place for gatherings, concerts, and sometimes epic snowball fights in winter.
Don’t miss the Hero of Hydration: the Horse Show Fountain! This isn’t just a fancy spot for thirsty humans, but for horses and dogs too-kind of like Oak Park’s original pet-friendly happy hour spot. The fountain is a replica from 1969, but the design goes all the way back to 1909, and whispers of Frank Lloyd Wright and sculptor Richard Bock can be heard in its elegant lines. Quench your thirst, tip your hat to the architects, and remember: even fountains here get to reinvent themselves!
If you climb up toward the top of the grassy hill, you’ll spot the impressive Peace Triumphant memorial-three tall bronze figures watching over the park as if on guard duty. Dedicated in 1925, it’s here to honor veterans of World War I from Oak Park and River Forest. Picture the dedication day: a crowd gathers as Vice President Charles G. Dawes delivers a mighty speech, and the wind carries through the names of the 2,446 locals who served-including a young Ernest Hemingway, who once went sledding down this hill. They even discovered the foundation of the old Scoville house under the statue during its restoration in 2010, as if history itself was saying, “Hey, don’t forget about me!”
Before you wander off, find the bronze bust of Percy Julian, brilliant chemist and Oak Park legend, near the library. It’s a friendly reminder that heroes come in all forms-scientists, soldiers, playful kids on sleds, and anyone who finds a little bit of magic right here in Scoville Park.
