The original plans for the town of Chicago left the area east of Michigan Avenue unsubdivided and vacant , and purchasers of Michigan Avenue lots were promised that it would remain unoccupied . When the former Fort Dearborn Reserve became part of the townsite in 1839 , the plan of the area east of Michigan Avenue south of Randolph was marked " Public ground . Forever to remain vacant of buildings . " The city officially designated the land as a park on April 29 , 1844 , naming it Lake Park . When the Illinois Central Railroad was built into Chicago in 1852 , it was permitted to lay track along the lakefront on a causeway built offshore from the park . The resulting lagoon became stagnant , and was largely filled in 1871 with debris from the Great Chicago Fire , increasing the parkland . In 1896 , the city began extending the park into the lake with landfill , beyond the rail lines . On October 9 , 1901 , the park was renamed Grant Park in honor of American Civil War commanding General and United States President Ulysses S. Grant . At the 1868 Republican National Convention in Chicago , Grant had been nominated for his first presidential term
1868 Republican National Convention
1868 Republican National Convention
Grant Park (Chicago)