Lowell Park (Dixon, Illinois)

Lowell Park is a municipal park located along the Rock River in northern Dixon, Illinois. The city acquired the land for the park in 1906, when Carlotta Lowell donated the land to commemorate her parents' lives. Lowell recruited the Olmsted Brothers, a nationally prominent architecture firm formed by the sons of Frederick Law Olmsted, to provide a design for the park; their design emphasized the park's natural scenery by ensuring that its manmade features complemented rather than distracted from it. The park opened to the public in 1907, though its original plan was not fully completed until 1942. It served as a forerunner to state parks, and according to the Dixon Evening Telegraph, it remained the only park of its kind in the region as late as the 1930s. In addition, the park preserves one of the few remaining segments of the Boles Trail, which ran from Peoria to Galena.[2]

Lowell Park
Lowell Park (Dixon, Illinois) is located in Illinois
Lowell Park (Dixon, Illinois)
Lowell Park (Dixon, Illinois) is located in the United States
Lowell Park (Dixon, Illinois)
Location2114 Lowell Park Rd., Dixon, Illinois
Coordinates41°53′23″N 89°29′43″W / 41.88972°N 89.49528°W / 41.88972; -89.49528
Area200 acres (81 ha)
Built1907 (1907)
ArchitectOlmsted Brothers
MPSDixon Parks MPS
NRHP reference No.06000680[1]
Added to NRHPAugust 8, 2006

The park was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 8, 2006.[1]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ Williams, DeAnn (October 2005). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Lowell Park" (PDF). Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 14, 2017. Retrieved October 13, 2017.