The park and surrounding neighborhood were named in honor of Alexander von Humboldt, a Prussian polymath who, among other things, made numerous scientific voyages throughout the Americas during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

[4] The unveiling ceremony, which saw speeches given in English, German, and Swedish, attracted approximately 20,000 spectators.

[5] The bronze figure of Humboldt was sculpted by a German sculptor named Felix Görling and was cast in the Gladenbeck foundry in Berlin.

The pedestal was designed and made by H.C. Hoffman & Co., a Chicago-based company, using granite from Freeport, Maine.

A globe and other smaller symbols of some of the scientific fields Humboldt was involved in are present near his feet.