The park memorializes Samuel Eberly Gross, the property developer of the neighborhood in the 1880’s. He took inspiration from the boulevards of Europe and included a green space in his urban plan for the area, which at the time was outside of the urban area of Chicago.
In 1998, the invasive Asian long-horned beetle caused the loss of many trees in the park;[4] the Chicago Park District and Gross Park Neighbors Foundation began restoration the following year. In 2008, the Illinois Department of Agriculture announced that it had eradicated the Asian long-horned beetle in Chicago.[5]
