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Baraga Playlot Park totals 0.55 acres and is located in the Lower West Side Community Area. The park features a playground, swings and a basketball court. The playground was renovated in Summer 2014 as part of Mayor Emanuel’s Chicago Plays! Program. 

While there is no structured programming taking place at this location, we invite you to check out our great programs offered at nearby Harrison Park.  

Baraga Park stands on the former site of a Chicago Transit Authority car barn in the Lower West Side Community Area. The Chicago Park District began leasing the property from the Transit Authority in 1967. After CTA demolished the car barn, the Park District installed swings, a sand box, and a basketball court. The Transit Authority sold the property to the Park District in 1973.

In 1990, the park was rehabilitated with a soft surface playground featuring a redwood play structure. The Park District designated the site, Lilac Park in 1975, as part of a citywide program to name parks for trees and flowers. Within three years, however, the park was renamed in honor of Frederick Baraga (1797-1868), a Slovenian immigrant and the first Catholic Bishop of Marquette, Michigan. Furthering his missionary efforts, Baraga worked to educate the Native Americans of the Upper Midwest during the mid-19th century. He authored the first dictionary and grammar books in the Ojibwa language.