In Downtown Oswego
Features:
- 6.2 acres
- Reservable picnic shelter
- Playground (handicap accessible) with three slides, six climbers, zip line, swings, seesaws, spinners, and cool mister.
- Sandbox with backhoe, miner, and rotating table
- Two lighted picnic shelters with grills
- Open picnic area with grills
- Drinking fountain
- Portable toilet shelter
- Fishing areas – Catch and release only. No motorized boating, swimming, or ice skating.
- Concert/festival area
- Lighted walkways throughout park
- Fox River Trail trail head
- Fox River Trail bicycle/pedestrian bridge over the Waubonsie Creek
- Egret sculpture garden
- Canoe access
- Parking (68 spaces)
History:
The Village of Oswego was founded at the site where the Fox River flows across a limestone shelf that provided a shallow, smooth route used by Indians and early settlers to cross the river. Wagons and stagecoaches traveling the Joliet-Galena trail and the Fox River Trail from Ottawa to Geneva crossed the river using the ford at the site of the present Hudson Crossing Park. In 1835, the first settlers named the village Hudson after Hudson, New York. (In 1837, area settlers voted to change the name to Oswego.) In commemoration of the crossing that gave Oswego its beginnings, and the original name of our village, the park was named Hudson Crossing Park. The arches over the limestone columns at the entrances to the park were designed to depict a wagon wheel passing through the waters of the Fox River. Hudson Crossing is a site unique in its history, transformation, and application. Beginning in the early summer of 1900, the Aurora Elgin & Chicago interurban trolley line crossed the Fox river on a steel bridge supported by limestone piers dating back to shortly after the Civil War (1867). To the north, near the mouth of the Waubonsie Creek, the Hopkins Saw Mill provided lumber for some of the Oswego’s earliest buildings. The Illinois Department of Transportation replaced the trolley bridge with an automobile bridge in 1994. The old bridge was renovated and preserved by the Oswegoland Park District as a bicycle and pedestrian bridge. Funding for the development transformation was provided in part by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources OSLAD Program. The site is illuminated for passive evening use.
Master Plans:
The Oswegoland Park District worked with Hitchcock Design Group to create Master Plans for select parks and trails within the District. It is important for Park Districts to have these plans prepared to take advantage of funding opportunities when they become available such as grants or donations. The following parks were found to have enhancement opportunities that would benefit residents throughout the District. Click on the following parks to view their Master Plans: Bluegrass Park East, Farmington Lakes Park, Fox River Trail, Community Park at Grande Park, and Violet Patch Park.
As a prime riverfront park in downtown Oswego and location to a number of Park District events, Hudson Crossing Park remains one of the most heavily used parks in the District. The Park District plans to restore the shoreline along the Fox River and increase additional water access opportunities including seating overlooks, fishing areas, and canoe/kayak launch sites. Permanent restrooms are projected to replace the portable toilet units at the east entrance. The design calls for the playground to be expanded and renovated into an all-inclusive play destination and sensory garden. The Park District also plans to preserve the park’s unique historical significance to the Village of Oswego by renovating the pedestrian bridge along Washington Street and enhance the gateway into the downtown area off of Route 31. View the Hudson Crossing Park Master Plan.
