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Pottawatomie Park
Type	Urban park
Location	St. Charles, Illinois
Coordinates	41°55′23″N 88°18′58″W / 41.92306°N 88.31611°W / 41.92306; -88.31611 (Pottawatomie Park)
Area	38.3 acres (15.5 ha)
Elevation	702 feet (214 m)
Operated by	St. Charles Park District
Website	Official website

Pottawatomie Park is a historic public park in St. Charles, Illinois, along the eastern bank of the Fox River. Purchased in 1912 by the fledgling local park district, it became the first public park established under the Illinois Park Act of 1911.

History

Traditionally used by the Meskwaki and Potawatomi people (the latter of whom lend their name to the park), the land was purchased at the town's 1834 incorporation by local settler Calvin Ward. Ward's son Lorenzo built an outdoor pavilion and a mansion on the site, in line with the many cottages that had been built along the river in the latter portion of the nineteenth century. After Ward's mansion burned down, the Chicago Great Western Railway acquired and built a line through the land in 1905. The park district purchased the underlying land from the railroad in 1912, to prevent commercial development of the property.

A grant in the 1920s from both the Works Progress Administration and philanthropist Edward J. Baker facilitated construction of several facilities in the park, including tennis courts, two swimming pools, and a nine-hole golf course.

In 2010, the Union Pacific Railroad, successor to the Chicago and Great Western, successfully petitioned the Surface Transportation Board to abandon its line through the park. As the St. Charles section of the railroad constitutes a gap between two discontinuous sections of the Great Western Trail, the park district and railroad are negotiating a conversion of the railroad to a recreational trail.

Features

Today, the park has a mini-golf course, watercraft rentals, and the original two swimming pools and nine-hole golf course from the early twentieth century. The park is also located along the Fox River Trail, allowing pedestrian and bicycle access to other towns along the river.

In 2000, the park district built a recreation of Lorenzo Ward's 1892 outdoor pavilion, which had fallen down in the years prior.

Two riverboats, St. Charles Belle II and Fox River Queen, ferry passengers on pleasure cruises on the Fox River. Laid down in the 1980s, they replaced the earlier Honeymoon Queen, which had served the area since 1945.

Golf course

Designed by architect Robert Trent Jones, the nine-hole golf course features primarily wide fairways alongside the Fox River. When park board chairman Lester Norris and his wife Dellora A. Norris commissioned Jones to design a riverside course, Jones used the opportunity to experiment with water hazards, designing his first island green at the third hole. After the success of Pottawatomie he would later go on to be known for designing hazards, of which he later wrote in a 1989 retrospective "I've found that water holes, because of their beauty and challenge, are the most popular among the majority of golfers. They get excited about water. It is a hazard that is immediately recognizable, and it appeals to them, even if in a perverse way. They are intimidated by it, but they are fascinated by it." The course opened in July 1939 at a fee of 15 cents per round, which was much lower than its contemporaneous public courses.

Today, the course serves players of all skill levels. The course regularly serves leagues, tournaments, and lessons and hosted 36,000 rounds in 2021. Improvements to the original design have included the addition of an irrigation system, new cart paths, and ADA compliance.

References

1. ^ Cairns, Malcolm; Bachrach, Julia Sniderman; Noble, Bonnie W.; McKone, Cynthia S.; Young, Heather; Glemza, Carol; Stimely, Margot; Carpenter, Stephen H.; Surroz, Susan; Handlon, Jerry; Szoke, Charles J.; Cherveny, Steve; Badasch, Mark E. (1997). "History of Illinois Park Districts Decade by Decade". Illinois Parks & Recreation. 28 (5). Springfield, Illinois: Illinois Association of Park Districts: 23–38. Archived from the original on May 6, 2022 – via Northern Illinois University Libraries.
2. Silvey, Todd (June 17, 2011). "St. Charles Park District Celebrates 100 Years of Community Service". Illinois Association of Park Districts. Archived from the original on July 1, 2011. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
3. "History of Pottawatomie Park". The Den. City of St. Charles. July 1, 2019. Archived from the original on October 16, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
4. "Building the Dam, Bridge, and Mills". St. Charles History Museum. March 6, 2023. Archived from the original on July 1, 2023. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
5. "St. Charles & the Angel". National Affairs. Time Magazine. Vol. 72, no. 19. November 10, 1958. pp. 31–32. Fox River Dam, rebuilt by the colonel after he found it crumbling 30 years ago, and Pottawatomie Park, on which Baker and the Public Works Administration matched funds to provide tennis courts, two swimming pools and a golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones.
6. 75 FR 36149
7. Union Pacific Railroad Company—Abandonment Exemption—In Kane County, Ill., 40874 (Surface Transportation Board 2010-09-21).
8. Union Pacific Railroad Company—Abandonment Exemption—In Kane County, Ill., 50149 (Surface Transportation Board 2020-03-02).
9. "Pottawatomie Park". St. Charles Park District. Archived from the original on June 21, 2021. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
10. "St. Charles Scoop". St. Charles History Museum. June 9, 2018. Archived from the original on June 15, 2022. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
11. "Pottawatomie Park". Enjoy Illinois. Illinois Office of Tourism. Archived from the original on April 17, 2024. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
12. Sherlock, Barbara (May 3, 2000). "Rebuilding an Era of Memories". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
13. Sherlock, Barbara (October 3, 2000). "On Banks of the Fox River, a Pavilion Rises from Past". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
14. "Paddlewheel Riverboats History". St. Charles Park District. Archived from the original on May 29, 2023. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
15. ^ "Course Design". Pottawatomie Golf Course. St. Charles Park District. Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
16. "FAQs". Pottawatomie Golf Course. St. Charles Park District. Archived from the original on November 13, 2023. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
17. Hansen, James R. (2014). A Difficult Par: Robert Trent Jones Sr. and the Making of Modern Golf. New York: Gotham Books. pp. 107–109. ISBN 9781592408238. OCLC 861069067.
18. Whitten, Ron (1996). "1,000 Islands". Golf Digest. Vol. 47, no. 3. p. 97 – via EBSCO. Nobody designed island greens over a longer period than Robert Trent Jones. His most famous was undoubtedly the 160-yard, par-3 16th at the Golden Horseshoe G.C., Williamsburg, Va., built in 1964. His first was back in 1936 at Pottawatomie Park G.C. in St. Charles, Ill., and his last was in 1992 at Grand National's, Lake Course in Opelika, Ala.
19. Jones, Robert Trent; Dennis, Larry (1989). Golf's Magnificent Challenge. Sammis Publishing Corporation. ISBN 978-0-07-032816-7. OCLC 18745738. OL 17772578W.
20. ^ Lawell, Matt (2022). "Our troubles are all the same". Golf Course Industry. Archived from the original on May 29, 2022. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
21. "Golf Course History & Improvements". Saint Charles Park District. Archived from the original on March 29, 2023. Retrieved November 10, 2023.

• Urban public parks
• Parks in Illinois
• Parks established in the 1910s
• Golf clubs and courses designed by Robert Trent Jones
• Golf clubs and courses in Illinois
• St. Charles, Illinois