Located in the Belmont Cragin Community Area (just south of Fullerton Avenue, between Cicero and Laramie avenues), Blackhawk Park’s fieldhouse sits on 6.88 acres, and features an indoor pool, a gymnasium, several meeting rooms, plus a kitchen.

Outdoors, the park offers a quarter-mile walking path, two junior baseball fields, a softball field, a combination football/soccer field, five tennis courts, a basketball court, plus a playground with a spray pool.

Blackhawk Park offers both fitness classes and aquatic programs for patrons of all ages. Teens can also enjoy basketball. Men can also join volleyball and basketball leagues.

Depending on age and season, a large variety of programs are offered for youth/pre-teens: soccer, football, cheerleading, basketball, wrestling, tumbling, T-ball & Little League baseball.Our signature programs are available at Blackhawk Park, such as: the Park Kids after school program, Spring- & Winter-Break Camps, as well as our 6-week fun-filled affordable Day Camp (and Extended Camp).In August, we offer a 2-week Gymnastics’ Camp.

Parents gather at Blackhawk Park with their preschoolers for classes such as: Art & ABC’s, Play Group, Preschool, and Storytime.

We invite you to stop by and check out the offerings at Blackhawk Park!

The Northwest Park District began acquiring land for a new park known as the Cragin site in 1916.  In 1921, renowned landscape architect Jens Jensen, designer of much of the West Park system, developed a plan for the park. Early improvements to Blackhawk Park included a wading pool, a playground, tennis courts, and electric lighting.  Land acquisition for the park was completed in 1922.  Also, in 1922, the Northwest Park District named the park to honor the 86th Division, a World War I Army unit known as the Blackhawk Division of the Allied Expeditionary Force. Composed of volunteers and draftees from Illinois, the Division took its name from the Sac Chief Black Hawk (1767-1838). In 1832, Black Hawk led a group of Sac, Fox, and Kickapoo Indians west across the Mississippi into Illinois in a futile attempt to reclaim their ancestral lands, from which they had been forced in the 1820s. Though his forces were beaten back and fell to final defeat on August 2, 1832, Chief Black Hawk has long been revered for his bravery and perseverance.

In 1926, a small brick field house with a gambrel roof was built in the park. Architect Albert Schwartz designed the building. Altogether, he produced six field houses for the Northwest and Old Portage Park Districts. Two years after the completion of the original field house, architect Walter W. Alschlager designed a major addition to the building that included an indoor swimming pool, gymnasium, locker rooms, offices, and a boardroom.     The fieldhouse offered many indoor activities like swimming, gymnasium activities, social dancing, music, crafts, dramatics, cooking classes, and citizenship lessons.

In 1934, Blackhawk Park became part of the Chicago Park District system when the twenty-two park districts were consolidated into one, the Chicago Park District