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During the decade between 1920 and 1930, the population of the fashionable Beverly Community Area grew by nearly 80%. To meet the area's increasing recreational needs, the Ridge Park District, one of 22 independent park boards consolidated into the ¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ in 1934, began to develop a new park in Beverly's Brainerd neighborhood. In 1932, the Ridge Park District attempted to purchase some Chicago Board of Education property in the neighborhood; however, financial difficulties delayed the transaction. By the time the ¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ was created in 1934, the Ridge Park District had made only an initial down payment on the property. Three years later, in 1937, a delegation from the Brainerd Improvement Association approached the ¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ commissioners, urging them to acquire and develop the park.  The ¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ finalized the land purchase the following year and acquired the property from the Chicago Board of Education. The ¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ quickly began improvements, installing outdoor athletic facilities and constructing a small fieldhouse. In the 1970s, a larger fieldhouse took the place of the original.

The park was named Brainerd Park in 1941. The Brainerd Park name derives from that of Mr. Brainerd, one of five founders of the Rock Island Railroad for whom Beverly area streets were named. Though Brainerd Street became 91st Street when the City of Chicago annexed the northern portion of Beverly in 1890, the neighborhood designation survived, and was passed on to this park.