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The South Park District acquired land for the park in 1904 and alleys and streets were vacated for the park in 1909.  The South Park Commission created Cornell Square in 1904 as part of a revolutionary neighborhood park system, which improved the difficult living conditions in Chicago's congested tenement districts. The innovative parks provided not only beautiful "breathing spaces," but also public bathing, the City's first branch libraries, classes and vocational training, inexpensive hot meals, health care, and a variety of recreational programs.  Nationally renowned landscape architects the Olmsted Brothers and architects Daniel H. Burnham and Co. designed the entire system. Five of the first ten properties, which opened in 1905, were known as squares because they were smaller than ten acres in size; the other five, which were larger than ten acres, were considered parks. In addition to Cornell Square, these were Mark White, Russell, Davis, and Armour Squares, and Ogden, Sherman, Palmer, Bessemer, and Hamilton Parks.

Cornell Square was named in honor of Paul Cornell (1822--1904), a lawyer and real estate developer who was a leading force behind the creation of the South Park System. In the mid-1850s, Cornell bought land south of Chicago and developed the community of Hyde Park. He arranged to have the Illinois Central Railroad provide commuter service to the newly developed area. Cornell believed that parks would provide "lungs to the great city and its future generations." He was instrumental in securing approval of the state bill, which established the South Park Commission in 1869, and served as a member of its board for 14 years.