Van Arnam's Island Park is a former tourist camp and recreation destination located on the Rock River in Dixon. It is named for Canadian John Van Arnam, an early settler of Dixon. In 1920, the island was sold at a very low rate to the City of Dixon by the Illinois Northern Utilities Company, which intended it to become a city park. The idyllic land was characterized by 80 acres of lagoons, dense woods, open fields, and river beaches. Access to the island was provided by small ferries and steamboats. With transportation in place, plans for improvements on the island were made by E. N. Howell, Chairman of the Park Board, and notable landscape architect O. C. Simonds. Their plans included camping shelters, bathhouses, trails, and more. However, the island was flooded in c. 1934 when flashboards were added to the top of the Rock River Hydroelectric Dam to increase the power generated by the plant, which raised the water levels of the river upstream. All community activities on the island subsequently ended, and the island became a wildlife refuge.