Lowell Park (Dixon, Illinois)

 park, forest, nature conservation park / area, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places

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in Dixon Illinois
This is a very nice park with a nature center, hiking trails, picnic structures and a boat launch. Ronald Reagan worked here as a lifeguard and is credited with saving around 77 people.

815-284-3306

200 Acres ~ Picnic Tables ~ 9 Shelters ~ Playground ~ Ball Diamond
7 miles Cross Country Skiing ~ 2 Boat Ramps/Docks ~ Hiking Trails ~ Nature Center

Until you have walked through this nature wonderland, will you not appreciate this wonderful gift that was presented to the City of Dixon near the turn of the 19th century. Established in 1907, it has stood through all these years as a place whereby people could relax and enjoy recreation to its fullest. It is where Ronald Reagan took a summer job as a lifeguard and is reported to have saved 77 people from the river during his tenure. We hope you will enjoy the picturesque scenery and that some day you will visit this magnificent park which is on the National Register Of Historic Places.

Lowell Park with its intriguing ties to both the Boston-area Lowell family, and our revered President Ronald Reagan. Named as one of Illinois’ “beauty spots” in 1925, the original 200-acre parcel was purchased by Charles Russell Lowell in 1850. Mr. Lowell, on a trip to visit Hazelwood, the adjacent estate of Alexander Charters, was so impressed with the beauty of the site, he immediately purchased the parcel. Eventually Lowell’s daughter Carlotta donated the land to the community. The area encompassed by Lowell Park held great historical significance. In 1909, “The First Report of the Lowell Park Commission” stated that the “feature of the land of greatest historical importance was the deep ruts of the Boles Trail.” ” This trail, created in 1826, traveled from Peoria to Galena,
crossing Lowell Park between what is nowthe Pinetum and the south road. A bronze marker on a glacial boulder marks the Boles Trail Pathway. In 1926, 15 year-old Ronald Reagan applied for the job of lifeguard. Young “Dutch” Reagan worked a 12-hour day and “never complained.” He gave swimming lessons and stayed on as lifeguard until he completed college. This was during the heyday of the beach, when it was not unusual to have 500 to 1000 swimmers and sunbathers a day.

www.dixonparks.com/lowellpark.htm