Douglas advised him to consider investing in  land south of the city limits.
 After some horseback travels through the area, he began to envision a viable community there.
 In 1853, following the advice of Douglas, he bought 300 acres (1.21 km²) of property between 51st Street and 55th Street as a speculative investment.
 This area was 7 miles (11.27 km) south of the mouth of the Chicago River and 6 miles (9.66 km) south of downtown Chicago.
 In the 1850s, Chicago was still a walkable urban area well contained within a 2 miles (3.22 km) radius of the center.
 It was common for development companies to locate hotels near rail depots to introduce visitors to new suburbs.
In 1856, Paul Cornell invented the Chicago railroad suburb.
In an effort to improve his land value, he deeded 60 acres (0.24 km²) to the Illinois Central Railroad in exchange for a 53rd Street train station and a commitment of 6 daily connections to Chicago's Central Depot in each direction.
 He then marketed the neighborhood to wealthy Chicagoans as a resort area.
 He selected the name Hyde Park to associate the area with the elite high class neighborhoods of New York and London.

At about the same time, he built the Hyde Park House a 4-story hotel at 53rd Street and Lake Michigan.
 The hotel became the focal point of the community and drew affluent guests with leisure time and discretionary income.
 This site is now occupied by the Hampton House.
 The hotel also helped others to envision a thriving affluent community in the area.
 By 1861, the residents petitioned the Illinois General Assembly to create the Hyde Park Township.

Paul Cornell specifically forbade heavy industry development in Hyde Park.
 He maintained the character of Hyde Park, which was intended to be an elite suburb bordering Chicago, by selling only large lots that the affluent could afford.
 The neighborhood flourished for the next two generations.

In 1889, the entire Hyde Park township (the area south of 39th Street, north of 138th Street, and east of State Street), which had quintupled in population from an 1880 population of 15,716 to an 1889 population of 85,000, voted for annexation to the City of Chicago.
Paul Cornell planned and advocated a town with a lakefront park, a plaisance, an adjoining park and boulevards shaped the town.
 His plan for a cornerstone institution to rival Evanston's Northwestern University was at first thwarted by the decision to establish a theological seminary on the north side, but would come to fruition with the foundation of the University of Chicago through the philanthropy of John D. Rockefeller and Marshall Field in 1890.

Hyde Park maintained racially restrictive covenants excluding African Americans from purchasing, leasing, or occupying homes in Hyde Park for nearly one hundred years until this segregative tool was struck down by the United States Supreme Court in a 1940 case, Lee v. Hansberry, concerning the nearby Washington Park Subdivision.
 At his death, Cornell bequeathed East End Park (Now renamed Harold Washington Park) to the city.
 The stone pictured above commemorates this gift.
Douglas advised him to consider investing in  land south of the city limits.  After some horseback travels through the area, he began to envision a viable community there.  In 1853, following the advice of Douglas, he bought 300 acres (1.21 km²) of property between 51st Street and 55th Street as a speculative investment.  This area was 7 miles (11.27 km) south of the mouth of the Chicago River and 6 miles (9.66 km) south of downtown Chicago.  In the 1850s, Chicago was still a walkable urban area well contained within a 2 miles (3.22 km) radius of the center.  It was common for development companies to locate hotels near rail depots to introduce visitors to new suburbs. In 1856, Paul Cornell invented the Chicago railroad suburb. In an effort to improve his land value, he deeded 60 acres (0.24 km²) to the Illinois Central Railroad in exchange for a 53rd Street train station and a commitment of 6 daily connections to Chicago's Central Depot in each direction.  He then marketed the neighborhood to wealthy Chicagoans as a resort area.  He selected the name Hyde Park to associate the area with the elite high class neighborhoods of New York and London.
At about the same time, he built the Hyde Park House a 4-story hotel at 53rd Street and Lake Michigan.  The hotel became the focal point of the community and drew affluent guests with leisure time and discretionary income.  This site is now occupied by the Hampton House.  The hotel also helped others to envision a thriving affluent community in the area.  By 1861, the residents petitioned the Illinois General Assembly to create the Hyde Park Township.
Paul Cornell specifically forbade heavy industry development in Hyde Park.  He maintained the character of Hyde Park, which was intended to be an elite suburb bordering Chicago, by selling only large lots that the affluent could afford.  The neighborhood flourished for the next two generations.
In 1889, the entire Hyde Park township (the area south of 39th Street, north of 138th Street, and east of State Street), which had quintupled in population from an 1880 population of 15,716 to an 1889 population of 85,000, voted for annexation to the City of Chicago. Paul Cornell planned and advocated a town with a lakefront park, a plaisance, an adjoining park and boulevards shaped the town.  His plan for a cornerstone institution to rival Evanston's Northwestern University was at first thwarted by the decision to establish a theological seminary on the north side, but would come to fruition with the foundation of the University of Chicago through the philanthropy of John D. Rockefeller and Marshall Field in 1890.
Hyde Park maintained racially restrictive covenants excluding African Americans from purchasing, leasing, or occupying homes in Hyde Park for nearly one hundred years until this segregative tool was struck down by the United States Supreme Court in a 1940 case, Lee v. Hansberry, concerning the nearby Washington Park Subdivision.  At his death, Cornell bequeathed East End Park (Now renamed Harold Washington Park) to the city.  The stone pictured above commemorates this gift.
Paul Cornell (lawyer)