Barclay Park is the small triangular plot of land bordered by Dundee Avenue and Center Street. This land was donated to the City of Elgin as a park in 1906 by David F. Barclay. His home, built about 1865, still stands across Dundee Avenue as part of the Madison Funeral Home. Barclay was a Scottish immigrant who became a very successful manufacturer of dairy equipment, such as milk cans, cheese vats, and steam boilers and engines. In 1874 he was elected to his first of four terms as Elgin Mayor.
From 1919 to 1983 this park was a playground, but as the traffic on the surrounding streets got heavier, it was removed due to safety concerns in 1983.
