Lindenwood Park Neighborhood
History

The area originally consisted of parts of a vast Spanish land grant granted by Charles Gratiot in 1798. During the first half of the nineteenth century, this broad area was subdivided into various large tracts. Development began in earnest during the first half of the twentieth century.

During the 1920's and 1930's, rapid development occurred in the area. Between Hampton and Watson, north of Pernod to Marquette, Southwest Park was opened in 1924, Watson Terrace was platted in 1924, followed by Rohndale on Bancroft Avenue in 1926 and Ivanhoe Park in 1927. East of Watson, between Pernod and Chippewa Somerset Park was platted in 1926, as was the Watson-Chippewa Subdivision in 1928, Wenzlick Park in 1929, and Milton Terrace in 1937. Most major new housing development was completed by 1950 with spot in-fill development occurring after that time. The most recent major development was the subdivision of Lindenwood Heights in 1963.

The names of the Lindenwood streets memorialize prominent citizens and landowners at the time of development. Among the landholders commemorated by street names are James McCausland, James V. Prather, Joseph Weil, Adele Tholozan, Wesley Watson, and James Fyler. Subdivider's names include Bradley, Smiley and Scanlan.

Sam T. Rathell, the developer of Lindenwood, is said to have asked his wife, Oleatha, to suggest street names for his subdivision. She obliged by naming one for herself, another for her Alma Mater Lindenwood College, Marquette for the public school her children attended and Mardel for Delmar, the street on which she resided.

Two prominent Americans of the 1880s who are commemorated are General Winfield Scott Hancock, a Union general in the civil war and presidential nominee in 1880, and Chester A. Arthur, the Republican vice-president who became president with the assignation of James A. Garfield in 1881. Both Hancock and Arthur died in 1886, shortly before the opening of the Harlem Place subdivision.