"Big city access, small town charm" is the city slogan for Forest Park. Located nine miles from Chicago, Forest Park is a rising star among Chicago land suburbs.
With stunning accolades including "The best in neighborhood dining" according to a 2008 Chicago Tribune Readers Poll, Forest Park has reinvented itself, building on its history as a popular watering hole for its dry neighbors Oak Park and River Forest, to the vibrant, progressive business community and neighborhood that it is today.
Located just ten miles from downtown Chicago, residents and visitors take advantage of the many forms of public transportation including Metra train and expressways.
An enterprising host too many popular events for every season, Forest Park attracts people year round at festivities such as Oktoberfest, Progressive Dinner, Holiday Walk, Summerfest, Forest Park Prom, Ribfest, Groovin' At The Grove and many more. The St. Patrick's Day event is arguably the largest, with a full parade and many specials at the plentiful Irish pubs and eateries. The French Market is held every Saturday morning and offers fresh produce and baked goods, crafts, jewelry and more.
Forest Park is the poster child for how an older suburb can revitalize itself to stay current with the times. With a thriving downtown complete with well known retailers such as Starbucks and Jimmy Johns but with many, unique, specialty shops like ice cream parlors, knitting shops, antique stores, cooking schools and yoga studios, Forest Park has become a hub for young professionals and young families.
The area now known as Forest Park was home to the Pottawatomie Indians for thousands of years. After Illinois entered the Union, most of the land west of Chicago was set aside for veterans in the war of 1812. By 1835, due to the large concentration of oak trees, it was called Oak Ridge. In 1839, Leon Bourassa, a French -Indian fur trader received a land grant from President VanBuren for 160 acres along the DesPlaines River. The original document is on display in the Forest Park Historical Society today. The Pottawatomie had relocated to west of the Mississippi, except for one maiden left to tend the graves of the ancestors. Legend has it that Leon married her and they settled in the area now known as Forest Park Cemetery.
A German immigrant, Ferdinand Haase, bought a 40-acre tract from Bourassa in 1851 and built an ornate mansion after the style he had seen in New Orleans. With the establishment of the Chicago and Galena Union railroad in 1856, the first public transportation in Forest Park was established. Forest Park was then re-named Harlem, by a landowner after his hometown in New York City. After the Chicago fire in 1871, many new residents arrived to make their homes. The Altenheim-German Old People's Home opened in 1885 and the Victorian building exists today. Movies such as "The Package" with Gene Hackman and "The Babe" with John Goodman have filmed at the site.
As it is known now for its excellent dining and shopping, Forest Park is known historically for its notable cemeteries, Forest Park's Waldheim Cemetery, now a part of Forest Home, has many "celebrities" including the Haymarket Four, executed in 1887 for their role in the labor movement pivotal event, Haymarket Riot. Waldheim was the only ceremony to accept the bodies of the martyrs, and more than 15,000 attended the ceremony. Mike Todd, Elizabeth Taylor's third husband, is buried in the Jewish Beth Aaron cemetery and every October a Cemetery Walk is held with actors depicting famous residents ranging from baseball great turned evangelist Billy Sunday to activist Emma Goldman and even gypsy kings and queens.
