Postcard view above is looking NW with buildings along Walnut Street on right. Church in
background is St James Catholic Church (torn down about 1979) with a steeple
235 feet tall and facing Lafayette Street between Jefferson and Madison Streets.
East Side Park was created in 1895, bounded by Adams, Oliver, Van Buren, and Walnut Streets and designed by the Olmsted Brothers firm. The name of the park was changed from East Side Park to Independence Park on July 4, 1923. From a January, 1923 recreation report: "An evidence of the interest in this park on the part of citizens of the district was shown when a committee of representative men called upon the Commission and presented a petition to change the name of this park to Independence Park. The benefits of the park to the people were pointed out by the committee. The speakers urged that the Commission adopt the name Independence Park because it will bring to the park a new significance in the minds of the foreign-born population. The committee submitted this name as being most appropriate for
a park touching upon or adjacent to streets that have been named after the presidents of the
United States."
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