Mayor Lorraine H. Morton proclaimed Monday Alexander Clark Day in Evanston, but even historians don’t know whom the city is commemorating.

Skokie resident Karen Hill, 50, wants to clear up that mystery.

Hill, Clark’s great-granddaughter, recently discovered that Clark Square, a park at Kedzie Street and Sheridan Road, was dedicated in his honor Oct. 20, 1903.

“I’ve been in a passion ever since I walked into that park,” she said. “It’s been 100 years, and I’m going to tell my story now.”

Though she hasn’t worked in historical research before and is employed by a chiropractic clinic, Hill said she has “turned into an Alexander Clark machine.”

“I belong to the Church of Scientology, which is a very spiritual type of religion,” Hill said. “I think it’s because of that that I have had so much drive on this.”

Hill has found history books and newspaper clippings that credit Clark for many things, including conceptualizing the Union Loop in Chicago, but many historians have never heard of him.

The Loop, a part of Chicago so integral that one historian likened it to New York’s Times Square, provides a place for trains from all parts of the city to converge and turn around as well as sets off a central business district for the city.

“People who live on the other part of the planet and have never been to Chicago know the downtown area is called the Loop,” said Henry Binford, a NU history professor who specializes in Chicago.

Though some historians said they had never heard of Clark, they added he likely was involved in the creation of the Loop. And they couldn’t determine if his involvement was to the extent Hill believes.

“He was clearly invested in transportation already,” Binford said, “and had a voice that would be listened to.”

Chicago Transit Authority historian Bruce Moffat wrote in an e-mail that he had never heard of Clark before Hill contacted him, but he had asked Hill to send him information on Clark.

Hill said she did not plan to send anything to Moffat because he might write about Clark, and she wanted to do that herself.

Clark also is credited with helping to merge three villages into modern Evanston, building a water supply system, introducing cement sidewalks and connecting Evanston by rail to Chicago, according to “Evanston — Its Land and Its People,” by Viola Crouch Reeling.

Clark was born in Paterson, N.J., in 1851 and later moved to Illinois. He worked through Wabash College in Indiana as a janitor and later became a lawyer. He married Emma Osgood, a teacher, and had two children, one of whom was Hill’s grandmother Helen.

When Hill moved to Skokie from Florida, her mother told her she had a famous relative from Evanston. She began doing research and now has a binder full of copies from microfilms of local newspapers mentioning Clark.

Hill said once she has finished researching, she would like to find an author and write a book on Clark. She said she thought his life would also make a fascinating movie or play.

Despite Clark’s apparent influence on Evanston, Hill says the officials she talked to have had a “blas