100th Anniversary – Sycamore Park District, Sycamore, Illinois

100 Years of the Sycamore Park District

This year, please join us in celebrating what Sycamore Park District has meant to our community as well as a vision for the future!

The Beginning of Sycamore Park District

On November 27, 1923, the first Board of Commissioners was elected, and the Sycamore Park District was voted to be formed. This followed much public input and support, including a large community meeting a month before to share ideas and nominate 25 residents as Park Board Candidates. Voters expressed that the location should be on the east side of town and the initial projects should include trees, a swimming pool, a ball diamond, and a tourists’ camp. The group got to work immediately, and Sycamore Park was established along the Kishwaukee River
where the Sycamore Golf Club is located today.

In 1924 a petition helped establish the Golf Club. Several of its initial 50 members laid out a course and began to play in only a few weeks. After getting permission from the Park Board, D. A. Middleton contributed an article to the True Republican asking for community donations and support to expand and care for the course. He wrote, “Of course, the links are crude as yet only three holes have been laid out —but the ground has been rolled and the grass has been mowed, and at least an opportunity has been given to those who wish to experience the thrill that accompanies a good drive, or a well-placed mashie shot to the green to indulge in the greatest game in the whole category of American outdoor games.”

The park was officially dedicated on July 16, 1925, in a celebration dubbed Community Day. In addition to tennis matches and golf, planned festivities included a baseball game, a baby buggy parade, a speech by Senator Harold Kessinger, a water carnival, bathing suite and casting contests, a picnic summer, and an evening dance. Stores and factories closed for a half day as the community came out to enjoy their new public park!