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After 1900, the West Garfield Park community became a magnet for upwardly-mobile first- and second-generation immigrants, primarily Irish, but also, increasingly, of Russian-Jewish descent. West Garfield Park's population topped 40,000 in 1920. To serve the needs of the growing community, the City of Chicago established a new park on Board of Education-owned property along North Kostner Avenue in 1926. By 1928, the site had playground equipment and plantings, and a small, tile-roofed recreational building, which sat at the back of the site. The structure faced a gravel-surfaced playing field that could be flooded for ice skating in winter. The ¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ began leasing the park from the Board of Education in 1959. In 1991, the Board of Ed transferred to the Park District. Several years before, in 1987, the Park District had thoroughly rehabilitated the park with new plantings, playground equipment, a jogging path, and resurfaced basketball courts.

The park honors George W. Tilton (1830-1890), for whom a nearby school is also named. Born in Manchester, New Hampshire, Tilton came to west Aurora, Illinois in 1858 to work for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. He eventually moved on to Chicago and the Northwestern Railroad, rising through the ranks to become superintendent of the motive power and machine repair division of the entire Northwestern line. In that position, he designed a locomotive that bears his name. Ironically, Tilton died as the result of a train accident in 1890.