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Paul Cornell (lawyer)
Encyclopedia
Paul Cornell was an American lawyer and Chicago
real estate
speculator who founded the Hyde Park Township that included most of what are now known as the south
and far southeast sides of Chicago
in Cook County
, Illinois
, United States. He turned the south side Lake Michigan
lakefront area, especially the Hyde Park
community area
and neighboring Kenwood
and Woodlawn
neighborhoods, into a resort
community that had its heyday from the 1850s through the early 20th century. He was also an urban planner
who paved the way for and preserved many of the park
s that are now in the Chicago Park District
. Additionally, he was a successful entrepreneur
with interests in manufacturing
, cemeteries, and hotel
s.
His modern legacy includes several large parks now in the Chicago Park District: Jackson Park
, Washington Park
, Midway Plaisance
and Harold Washington Park
. Most of the South and Southeast Sides
of Chicago were developed and eventually annexed into the City of Chicago as a result of his foresight.
, Cornell was from a distinguished New England
family, and was a cousin to Ezra Cornell
, founder of Cornell University
. When his father died (he was 9 at that time) the family moved to the Adams County, IL/Schuyler County, IL area, where he worked as a farmhand to pay for schooling. He passed the Illinois bar examination
and moved to Chicago in 1847. Unfortunately, his entire savings was stolen from his hotel room on his first night in town. A sympathetic lawyer
provided him with both a loan and a job at the law office of Skinner and Hoyne, where he met Senator
Stephen Douglas.
He was married to the sister-in-law
of John Evans
, after whom Evanston, IL was named. He had many strong local connections, being related to founders of Northwestern University
(Evans and Orrington Lunt) and to George Kimbark of Riverside Improvement Company. His brother-in-law
Kimbark purchased the area between 51st and 55th and Dorchester and Woodlawn to the west of Cornell's purchase. Cornell later purchased this as well as other lands purchased by his Uncle, Hassan A. Hopkins, to add to Hyde Park.
Douglas advised him to consider investing in land south of the city limits. After some horseback travels through the area, he began to envision a viable community there. In 1853, following the advice of Douglas, he bought 300 acres (1.21 km²) of property between 51st Street and 55th Street as a speculative investment. This area was 7 miles (11.27 km) south of the mouth of the Chicago River
and 6 miles (9.66 km) south of downtown Chicago. In the 1850s, Chicago was still a walkable urban area well contained within a 2 miles (3.22 km) radius of the center. It was common for development companies to locate hotels near rail depots
to introduce visitors to new suburb
s. In 1856, Paul Cornell invented the Chicago railroad suburb. In an effort to improve his land value, he deeded 60 acre (0.2428116 km²) to the Illinois Central Railroad
in exchange for a 53rd Street train station
and a commitment of 6 daily connections to Chicago’s Central Depot in each direction. He then marketed the neighborhood to wealthy Chicagoans as a resort
area. He selected the name Hyde Park to associate the area with the elite high class neighborhoods of New York
and London
.
At about the same time, he built the Hyde Park House
a 4 story hotel
at 53rd Street and Lake Michigan
. The hotel became the focal point of the community and drew affluent guests with leisure time and discretionary income. This site is now occupied by the Hampton House. The hotel also helped others to envision a thriving affluent community in the area. By 1861, the residents petitioned the Illinois General Assembly to create the Hyde Park Township.
Paul Cornell specifically forbade heavy industry
development in Hyde Park. This philosophy later became a part of the Burnham Plan
. He maintained the character of Hyde Park, which was intended to be an elite suburb bordering Chicago, by selling only large lots that the affluent could afford. The neighborhood flourished for the next two generations.
In 1889, the entire Hyde Park township (the area south of 39th Street, north of 138th Street, and east of State Street), which had quintupled in population
from a 1880 population of 15,716 to a 1889 population of 85,000, voted for annexation to the City of Chicago. Paul Cornell planned and advocated a town with a lakefront park, a plaisance
, an adjoining park and boulevards shaped the town. His plan for a cornerstone institution to rival Evanston
's Northwestern University
was at first thwarted by the decision to establish a theological seminary on the north side, but would come to fruition with the foundation of the University of Chicago
through the philanthropy of John D. Rockefeller
and Marshall Field
in 1890.
Hyde Park maintained racially-restrictive covenants excluding African-Americans from purchasing, leasing, or occupying homes in Hyde Park for nearly one hundred years until this segregative tool was struck down by the United States Supreme Court in a 1940 case, Lee v. Hansberry
, concerning the nearby Washington Park Subdivision
. At his death, Cornell bequeathed East End Park (Now renamed Harold Washington Park
) to the city. The stone pictured above commemorates this gift.
to create a parks system south of Chicago. Cornell, as a real estate developer, presented a convincing case to city developers that a parks system would increase the value of land surrounding it. Cornell based his arguments on New York City
's Central Park
, which had substantially raised surrounding real estate values. Repeated attempts eventually got a plan through the Illinois General Assembly. As a civic leader he along with his peer William Le Baron Jenney
, the West Parks commissioner, commissioned urban landscape
designer
s such as Frederick Law Olmsted
, Calvert Vaux
, Ossian Simonds, H. W. S. Cleveland, and Jens Jensen
to create landscaped cemeteries, to implement a coordinated parks and boulevard system and to design the railroad-served suburbs to complement urban civilization.
In 1869, the state passed the "Parks Law", which created the north, south and west parks district. The parks districts were established as municipal corporations with funding based on the taxable real estate within its service area. The legislation provided for orderly growth and evolution of the city by outlining not only the powers and duties of the parks districts, but also the geography of the parks and connecting boulevards. Cornell was able to both benefit financially from the $
46 million spent on the parks during the remainder of the century and to assume a position of influence over the parks. Cornell served for over 13 years on the South Parks Commission, which regulated parks south of the city. This position enabled him to pursue his vision which was to have a park system that would give "lungs to the great city and its future generations." He also served as the Hyde Park Township's first Town Supervisor. Today, Jackson Park
, Washington Park
and Harold Washington Park
stand as a testament to his efforts. These parks became major selling points that contributed to the growth of Hyde Park.
In 1887, Cornell built the Hyde Park Hotel (left, 1887–1963) on the former site of his home at Lake Park and East Hyde Park Boulevard. The hotel was expanded in 1891. In 1914, the hotel expanded (for a second time), which doubled its capacity to 300 rooms (see right).
Paul Cornell also purchased the swampland
and prairie
8 miles (12.9 km) south of the Loop at the intersection of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway
and the Illinois Central Railroad
at a location that now is 75th Street and South Chicago Avenue in 1855. He subdivided parcels for sale through the 1870s. The area, which was first named Cornell, became Grand Crossing. He had accumulated a total of 960 acre (1.5 sq mi; 3.9 km²) land at one point. The reason that the name was changed was the pre-existence of Cornell, Illinois
.
Paul Cornell established the Cornell Watch Factory at 76th Street and the Illinois Central tracks in 1876 in Grand Crossing. Among his other ventures, Cornell founded Republic Life Insurance Company and the American Bronze Company. He served as secretary for a group of Chicagoans who purchased 167 acre (0.67582562 km²) in 1853 to create Oak Woods Cemetery
. He has a 15 feet (4.6 m) tall zinc
monument at the cemetery.
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
speculator who founded the Hyde Park Township that included most of what are now known as the south
South Side (Chicago)
The South Side is a major part of the City of Chicago, which is located in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Much of it has evolved from the city's incorporation of independent townships, such as Hyde Park Township which voted along with several other townships to be annexed in the June 29,...
and far southeast sides of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
in Cook County
Cook County, Illinois
Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, United States. He turned the south side Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
lakefront area, especially the Hyde Park
Hyde Park, Chicago
Hyde Park, located on the South Side of the City of Chicago, in Cook County, Illinois, United States and seven miles south of the Chicago Loop, is a Chicago neighborhood and one of 77 Chicago community areas. It is home to the University of Chicago, the Hyde Park Art Center, the Museum of Science...
community area
Community areas of Chicago
Community areas in Chicago refers to the work of the Social Science Research Committee at University of Chicago which has unofficially divided the City of Chicago into 77 community areas. These areas are well-defined and static...
and neighboring Kenwood
Kenwood, Chicago
Kenwood, located on the South Side of the City of Chicago, Illinois, is one of the 77 well-defined Chicago community areas.Kenwood was part of Hyde Park Township, which was annexed by the City of Chicago in 1889....
and Woodlawn
Woodlawn, Chicago
Woodlawn, located in the South Side of the City of Chicago, Illinois, USA, is one of 77 well defined Chicago community areas. It is bounded by Lake Michigan to the east, 60th Street to the north, Martin Luther King Drive to the west, and, mostly, 67th Street to the south...
neighborhoods, into a resort
Resort
A resort is a place used for relaxation or recreation, attracting visitors for holidays or vacations. Resorts are places, towns or sometimes commercial establishment operated by a single company....
community that had its heyday from the 1850s through the early 20th century. He was also an urban planner
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
who paved the way for and preserved many of the park
Park
A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...
s that are now in the Chicago Park District
Chicago Park District
The Chicago Park District is the oldest and largest park district in the U.S.A, with a $385 million annual budget. It has the distinction of spending the most per capita on its parks, even more than Boston in terms of park expenses per capita...
. Additionally, he was a successful entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
with interests in manufacturing
Manufacturing
Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...
, cemeteries, and hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
s.
His modern legacy includes several large parks now in the Chicago Park District: Jackson Park
Jackson Park (Chicago)
Jackson Park is a 500 acre park on Chicago's South Side, located at 6401 South Stony Island Avenue in the Woodlawn community area. It extends into the South Shore and Hyde Park community areas, bordering Lake Michigan and several South Side neighborhoods...
, Washington Park
Washington Park, Chicago
Washington Park is a well-defined community area on the South Side of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, USA, Which gets its name from the and nieghborhood. It includes the 372 acre park named Washington Park, stretching east-west from Cottage Grove Avenue to the Dan Ryan Expressway, and...
, Midway Plaisance
Midway Plaisance
The Midway Plaisance, also known locally as the Midway, is a park on the South Side of the city of Chicago, Illinois. It is one mile long by 220 yards wide and extends along 59th and 60th streets, joining Washington Park at its east end and Jackson Park at its west end. It divides the Hyde Park...
and Harold Washington Park
Harold Washington Park
Harold Washington Park is a small park in the Chicago Park District located in the Hyde Park community area on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was recently named for lawyer, state legislator, U.S. congressman, Hyde Park resident, and the first Chicago Mayor of African-American descent...
. Most of the South and Southeast Sides
South Side (Chicago)
The South Side is a major part of the City of Chicago, which is located in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Much of it has evolved from the city's incorporation of independent townships, such as Hyde Park Township which voted along with several other townships to be annexed in the June 29,...
of Chicago were developed and eventually annexed into the City of Chicago as a result of his foresight.
Background
Born in Upstate New YorkUpstate New York
Upstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
, Cornell was from a distinguished New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
family, and was a cousin to Ezra Cornell
Ezra Cornell
Ezra Cornell was an American businessman and education administrator. He was a founder of Western Union and a co-founder of Cornell University...
, founder of Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
. When his father died (he was 9 at that time) the family moved to the Adams County, IL/Schuyler County, IL area, where he worked as a farmhand to pay for schooling. He passed the Illinois bar examination
Bar examination
A bar examination is an examination conducted at regular intervals to determine whether a candidate is qualified to practice law in a given jurisdiction.-Brazil:...
and moved to Chicago in 1847. Unfortunately, his entire savings was stolen from his hotel room on his first night in town. A sympathetic lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
provided him with both a loan and a job at the law office of Skinner and Hoyne, where he met Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Stephen Douglas.
He was married to the sister-in-law
Sister-in-law
A sister-in-law is the sister of one's spouse, the wife of one's sibling, or sometimes the wife of one's spouse's sibling...
of John Evans
John Evans (governor)
John Evans was a U.S. politician, physician, railroad promoter, Governor of the Territory of Colorado, and namesake of Evanston, Illinois; Evans, Colorado; and Mount Evans, Colorado...
, after whom Evanston, IL was named. He had many strong local connections, being related to founders of Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
(Evans and Orrington Lunt) and to George Kimbark of Riverside Improvement Company. His brother-in-law
Brother-in-law
A brother-in-law is the brother of one's spouse, the husband of one's sibling, or the husband of one's spouse's sibling.-See also:*Affinity *Sister-in-law*Brothers in Law , a 1955 British comedy novel...
Kimbark purchased the area between 51st and 55th and Dorchester and Woodlawn to the west of Cornell's purchase. Cornell later purchased this as well as other lands purchased by his Uncle, Hassan A. Hopkins, to add to Hyde Park.
Hyde Park
Chicago River
The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of the same name, including its center . Though not especially long, the river is notable for being the reason why Chicago became an important location, as the link between the Great Lakes and...
and 6 miles (9.66 km) south of downtown Chicago. In the 1850s, Chicago was still a walkable urban area well contained within a 2 miles (3.22 km) radius of the center. It was common for development companies to locate hotels near rail depots
Train station
A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...
to introduce visitors to new suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
s. In 1856, Paul Cornell invented the Chicago railroad suburb. In an effort to improve his land value, he deeded 60 acre (0.2428116 km²) to the Illinois Central Railroad
Illinois Central Railroad
The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois with New Orleans, Louisiana and Birmingham, Alabama. A line also connected Chicago with Sioux City, Iowa...
in exchange for a 53rd Street train station
Hyde Park/53rd Street (Metra)
The Hyde Park/53rd St. Station commuter rail station within the City of Chicago serves the Metra Electric Line north to Millennium Station and south to University Park, Blue Island, and South Chicago. The station location, one of the oldest in the United States, has been in continuous use by...
and a commitment of 6 daily connections to Chicago’s Central Depot in each direction. He then marketed the neighborhood to wealthy Chicagoans as a resort
Resort
A resort is a place used for relaxation or recreation, attracting visitors for holidays or vacations. Resorts are places, towns or sometimes commercial establishment operated by a single company....
area. He selected the name Hyde Park to associate the area with the elite high class neighborhoods of New York
Hyde Park, New York
Hyde Park is a town located in the northwest part of Dutchess County, New York, United States, just north of the city of Poughkeepsie. The town is most famous for being the hometown of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt....
and London
Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...
.
At about the same time, he built the Hyde Park House
Hyde Park House
The Hyde Park House was a four-story wood frame upscale hotel built and run by Paul Cornell, that served as the centerpiece for Hyde Park social life from 1857 until 1879. It was located on 53rd Street adjacent to Lake Michigan on land currently occupied by the Hampton House.Cornell successfully...
a 4 story hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
at 53rd Street and Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
. The hotel became the focal point of the community and drew affluent guests with leisure time and discretionary income. This site is now occupied by the Hampton House. The hotel also helped others to envision a thriving affluent community in the area. By 1861, the residents petitioned the Illinois General Assembly to create the Hyde Park Township.
Paul Cornell specifically forbade heavy industry
Heavy industry
Heavy industry does not have a single fixed meaning as compared to light industry. It can mean production of products which are either heavy in weight or in the processes leading to their production. In general, it is a popular term used within the name of many Japanese and Korean firms, meaning...
development in Hyde Park. This philosophy later became a part of the Burnham Plan
Burnham Plan
The Burnham Plan is a popular name for the 1909 Plan of Chicago, co-authored by Daniel Burnham and Edward H. Bennett. It recommended an integrated series of projects including new and widened streets, parks, new railroad and harbor facilities, and civic buildings...
. He maintained the character of Hyde Park, which was intended to be an elite suburb bordering Chicago, by selling only large lots that the affluent could afford. The neighborhood flourished for the next two generations.
In 1889, the entire Hyde Park township (the area south of 39th Street, north of 138th Street, and east of State Street), which had quintupled in population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
from a 1880 population of 15,716 to a 1889 population of 85,000, voted for annexation to the City of Chicago. Paul Cornell planned and advocated a town with a lakefront park, a plaisance
Midway Plaisance
The Midway Plaisance, also known locally as the Midway, is a park on the South Side of the city of Chicago, Illinois. It is one mile long by 220 yards wide and extends along 59th and 60th streets, joining Washington Park at its east end and Jackson Park at its west end. It divides the Hyde Park...
, an adjoining park and boulevards shaped the town. His plan for a cornerstone institution to rival Evanston
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...
's Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
was at first thwarted by the decision to establish a theological seminary on the north side, but would come to fruition with the foundation of the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
through the philanthropy of John D. Rockefeller
John D. Rockefeller
John Davison Rockefeller was an American oil industrialist, investor, and philanthropist. He was the founder of the Standard Oil Company, which dominated the oil industry and was the first great U.S. business trust. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of...
and Marshall Field
Marshall Field
Marshall Field was founder of Marshall Field and Company, the Chicago-based department stores.-Life and career:...
in 1890.
Hyde Park maintained racially-restrictive covenants excluding African-Americans from purchasing, leasing, or occupying homes in Hyde Park for nearly one hundred years until this segregative tool was struck down by the United States Supreme Court in a 1940 case, Lee v. Hansberry
Hansberry v. Lee
Hansberry v. Lee, , is a famous case now usually known in civil procedure for teaching that res judicata may not bind a subsequent plaintiff who had no opportunity to be represented in the earlier civil action. The facts of the case dealt with a racially restrictive covenant that barred African...
, concerning the nearby Washington Park Subdivision
Washington Park Subdivision
The Washington Park Subdivision is the name of the historic 3-city block by 8-city block subdivision in the northwest corner of the Woodlawn community area, on the South Side of Chicago in Illinois that stands in the place of the original Washington Park Race Track. The area evolved as a...
. At his death, Cornell bequeathed East End Park (Now renamed Harold Washington Park
Harold Washington Park
Harold Washington Park is a small park in the Chicago Park District located in the Hyde Park community area on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was recently named for lawyer, state legislator, U.S. congressman, Hyde Park resident, and the first Chicago Mayor of African-American descent...
) to the city. The stone pictured above commemorates this gift.
Civic Leadership
Cornell is considered the "father of the South Parks System" for his extensive efforts after the American Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
to create a parks system south of Chicago. Cornell, as a real estate developer, presented a convincing case to city developers that a parks system would increase the value of land surrounding it. Cornell based his arguments on New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
, which had substantially raised surrounding real estate values. Repeated attempts eventually got a plan through the Illinois General Assembly. As a civic leader he along with his peer William Le Baron Jenney
William Le Baron Jenney
William Le Baron Jenney was an American architect and engineer who became known as the Father of the American skyscraper.- Life and career :...
, the West Parks commissioner, commissioned urban landscape
Landscape
Landscape comprises the visible features of an area of land, including the physical elements of landforms such as mountains, hills, water bodies such as rivers, lakes, ponds and the sea, living elements of land cover including indigenous vegetation, human elements including different forms of...
designer
Designer
A designer is a person who designs. More formally, a designer is an agent that "specifies the structural properties of a design object". In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, such as consumer products, processes, laws, games and graphics, is referred to as a...
s such as Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted was an American journalist, social critic, public administrator, and landscape designer. He is popularly considered to be the father of American landscape architecture, although many scholars have bestowed that title upon Andrew Jackson Downing...
, Calvert Vaux
Calvert Vaux
Calvert Vaux , was an architect and landscape designer. He is best remembered as the co-designer , of New York's Central Park....
, Ossian Simonds, H. W. S. Cleveland, and Jens Jensen
Jens Jensen
Jens August Jensen was an Australian politician and Minister for the Navy.Jensen was born in Ballarat, Victoria and educated at Ballarat, leaving school at 11. He became a rabbit-hawker and miner at Beaconsfield, Tasmania. In July 1885 he married Elizabeth Frances Broadhurst; she died in 1894...
to create landscaped cemeteries, to implement a coordinated parks and boulevard system and to design the railroad-served suburbs to complement urban civilization.
In 1869, the state passed the "Parks Law", which created the north, south and west parks district. The parks districts were established as municipal corporations with funding based on the taxable real estate within its service area. The legislation provided for orderly growth and evolution of the city by outlining not only the powers and duties of the parks districts, but also the geography of the parks and connecting boulevards. Cornell was able to both benefit financially from the $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
46 million spent on the parks during the remainder of the century and to assume a position of influence over the parks. Cornell served for over 13 years on the South Parks Commission, which regulated parks south of the city. This position enabled him to pursue his vision which was to have a park system that would give "lungs to the great city and its future generations." He also served as the Hyde Park Township's first Town Supervisor. Today, Jackson Park
Jackson Park (Chicago)
Jackson Park is a 500 acre park on Chicago's South Side, located at 6401 South Stony Island Avenue in the Woodlawn community area. It extends into the South Shore and Hyde Park community areas, bordering Lake Michigan and several South Side neighborhoods...
, Washington Park
Washington Park, Chicago
Washington Park is a well-defined community area on the South Side of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, USA, Which gets its name from the and nieghborhood. It includes the 372 acre park named Washington Park, stretching east-west from Cottage Grove Avenue to the Dan Ryan Expressway, and...
and Harold Washington Park
Harold Washington Park
Harold Washington Park is a small park in the Chicago Park District located in the Hyde Park community area on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was recently named for lawyer, state legislator, U.S. congressman, Hyde Park resident, and the first Chicago Mayor of African-American descent...
stand as a testament to his efforts. These parks became major selling points that contributed to the growth of Hyde Park.
Other ventures
Paul Cornell also purchased the swampland
Swampland
In physics, the term swampland is used in contrast to the term "landscape," to indicate physical theories or aspects of such theories which could be true if gravity wasn't an issue, but which are not compatible with string theory...
and prairie
Prairie
Prairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type...
8 miles (12.9 km) south of the Loop at the intersection of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway
Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway
The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, sometimes referred to as the Lake Shore, was a major part of the New York Central Railroad's Water Level Route from Buffalo, NY to Chicago, primarily along the south shore of Lake Erie and across northern Indiana...
and the Illinois Central Railroad
Illinois Central Railroad
The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois with New Orleans, Louisiana and Birmingham, Alabama. A line also connected Chicago with Sioux City, Iowa...
at a location that now is 75th Street and South Chicago Avenue in 1855. He subdivided parcels for sale through the 1870s. The area, which was first named Cornell, became Grand Crossing. He had accumulated a total of 960 acre (1.5 sq mi; 3.9 km²) land at one point. The reason that the name was changed was the pre-existence of Cornell, Illinois
Cornell, Illinois
Cornell is a village in Livingston County, Illinois, United States. The population was 511 at the 2000 census. It is a part of the geographic region known as Streatorland.-Geography:Cornell is located at ....
.
Paul Cornell established the Cornell Watch Factory at 76th Street and the Illinois Central tracks in 1876 in Grand Crossing. Among his other ventures, Cornell founded Republic Life Insurance Company and the American Bronze Company. He served as secretary for a group of Chicagoans who purchased 167 acre (0.67582562 km²) in 1853 to create Oak Woods Cemetery
Oak Woods Cemetery
Oak Woods Cemetery was established in 1854; it covers an area of and is located at 1035 E. 67th Street in Chicago. The first burials took place in 1860. Soon after the American Civil War, between four and six thousand Confederate soldiers, prisoners who died at Camp Douglas, were buried here...
. He has a 15 feet (4.6 m) tall zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
monument at the cemetery.
Memorials
- Cornell Avenue running at along the 1600 east block from 4818 south to 9326 south and Cornell Drive running along the 1632 east block in Jackson Park. Although these streets have different names they are the same street.
- The Hyde Park Historical Society gives out annual Paul Cornell Awards.