In 1850, the City of Chicago purchased a small parcel to create a lovely little park in what was then one of the city's most fashionable neighborhoods. Originally known as Jefferson Park, this was the backdrop for Theodore Dreiser's novel, Sister Carrie. In this influential work, considered immoral at the time, the married G.W. Hurstwood, waiting for his mistress Carrie Meeber, "... found a rustic bench beneath the green leaves of a lilac bush.... At a little pond near by some cleanly dressed children were sailing white canvas boats. In the shade of a green pagoda a bebuttoned officer of the law was resting, his arms folded."

After the Great Fire of 1871, the surrounding neighborhood began to decline, and the park slowly deteriorated. The city transferred the site to the West Park Commission in 1885, and the commission substantially improved the small park a few years later. By the 1910s, many other west side parks had facilities specifically for children, and in 1915 a group of local residents petitioned for a children's playground, wading pool, natatorium, and outdoor gymnasium. As this project would have required filling in the park's lake, the commissioners decided not pursue it.

In 1934, the West Park Commission and 21 other independent park agencies were consolidated into the Chicago Park District. Jefferson Park remained unchanged until 1955, when the park district renamed the site Mark Skinner Park for the adjacent school of that name. Mark Skinner (1836 - 1887) came to Chicago from Vermont to serve as an early school inspector. He went on to become a U.S. attorney for Illinois, and a State Representative. When the park was renamed, its lake was filled to make way for ball fields and a playground, better serving the adjacent Mark Skinner School.

Skinner Park features walking paths:

Long Path = 0.41 miles

Short Path = 0.36 miles