The Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool was designed in the 1930s to look like a river cutting through Midwestern prairie. Caldwell called it "a hidden garden for the people of Megalopolis, and the very poor, naturally without hope of escape in Buicks."
When the Park District cut wildflowers from the budget, Caldwell cashed in his life insurance policy — $300 — drove to Wisconsin, bought the plants himself, and planted them on his own time. For flowers. For a park he didn't own. For people he'd never meet.
It's now a National Historic Landmark — the only garden in Lincoln Park with that designation. Restored in the early 2000s for $2.4 million.
— From the tour: The Best Free Day in Chicago
