Originally known as Bush Park, West Park is one of the first public parks established in Joliet. Around the turn of the century, people began to value open spaces to get away from the crowds, noise and pollution of city life. Joliet was no exception. As a busy railway hub with several stations, industry, stone quarrying operations and the canal, the downtown area was a smokey, dirty place.
Beyond the western boundary of the city limits, the Bush farm consisted of rolling hills, trees and a series of creeks. The city secured the property to develop a park and appointed a Board of Directors to oversee the new park. Among the directors, and coming off a brief term on the Joliet City Council, was architect F. S. Allen. Allen was a well known school architect who had recently been recognized at Chicago's Columbian Exhibition, the 1893 World's Fair, for excellence in school design.
Allen was also active in the horticultural community, having published at least one article in the Chicago Tribune on the flora of Starved Rock State Park. He had also, by this time, designed several prominent homes in Joliet as well as schools, at least one church and several public buildings.
To lay out the grounds, landscape architect Ossiand C. Simonds was brought in. Known as O. C. Simonds, he practiced a natural design style, incorporating elements to make the space appear as untouched as possible, using native plants and playing off the natural topography. In West Park he found a wealth of features, including ravines and streams. He added a lagoon at the south end and rustic touches such as a stone spring house, dams made of river boulders and wood timber bridges.
Allen would add several of his unique touches by designing at least two homes that occupied the park. One of which would survive into the 1980s, an eclectic blend of log cabin with a boulder foundation, single style details and even a limestone tower.
The Ferriss home stood at the site that is currently Ferriss park along Bellevue Drive, a scenic road twisting along the edge of a rocky cliff overlooking the river and the city of Rockdale. Known as "The Cabin" this home would host famous visitors and become a reference point in the park for generations. Ferriss was a newspaper owner and business man in Joliet. Upon his death, he left the home to the Joliet Park District. The building would house the Joliet Artist League for several years before being abandoned. A fire in the late 1980s destroyed much of the home and the decision was made to raze the building. By this time the Interstate Highway had significantly reduced the size of the park and altered many of its features.
Today - Currently the park is home to a disk golf course. The tennis courts have been removed and playgrounds changed to meet safety demands. The lagoon has been filled in and ballfields that were once at the south entrance are gone.
Did you know - The railway which served Dellwood Park in Lockport is shown, on older maps, continuing up Morgan Street and through West Park. When Mr. Allen moved to California in 1904, he sold his Morgan Street home to the manager of Dellwood Park.
