Lowden State Park occupies Rock River bluffs near Oregon, Illinois, on land shaped by ancient geology and long used by Native Americans before settlement. Its modern history began in 1898 when Wallace Heckman bought the property and invited Lorado Taft and other artists there, leading to the founding of the Eagle’s Nest Art Colony, which remained until 1942. The park was established soon afterward as a memorial to Governor Frank Orren Lowden. Its best-known landmark is Taft’s monumental concrete sculpture The Eternal Indian, begun in 1908 and dedicated in 1911, a towering work inspired by Black Hawk that has become central to the park’s identity and preservation concerns.

Oregon, Illinois · USA