Dellwood

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Dellwood Park Dam
Lockport, Illinois

Just after the turn of the century, The Chicago and Joliet Electric Railroad built the 150 acre Dellwood Park in Lockport, Illinois. The park was developed into an amusement park specifically to increase ridership on the railway. The park had some interesting natural features such as tiny Fraction Creek and limestone dells. Dams were built across the creek to raise the water level to a sufficient depth for swimming and boating.

The dams still exist in ruin today, but most other buildings have been removed or destroyed by a 1930 fire. Fraction Creek feeds the Illinois and Michigan Canal at the edge of the park, where the modern railroad now runs.