William G. Stratton State Park in Morris, Illinois, was developed in 1959 and named for Governor William Stratton. Created to provide public boating access to the Illinois River, it serves as a riverfront recreation area centered on launching small watercraft, including motorboats and jet skis. Its setting is framed by two historic transportation routes: the Illinois River along its southern edge and the Illinois and Michigan Canal State Trail to the north. This location gives it both a practical function as a public access point and a place within a landscape long shaped by river travel and the former canal corridor.