With generous support from the Hardenbergh Foundation, new signage will be coming to Swede Hollow Park!
Thanks to a $100,000 grant from the Hardenbergh Foundation, new and improved signage will be coming to Swede Hollow Park. The signage is one of the top 20 priorities in the Swede Hollow Master Plan.
In addition to wayfinding and entrance signage, the project includes cultural interpretive signs for this important historical, archaeological and cultural site. Lower Phalen Creek Project is taking the lead on the cultural signage. The lead landscape architects for the whole master plan are Brett Hussong and Cheeneng Yang from St Paul Parks and Recreation.
Interpretive signage is vital because the story of Swede Hollow Park is the story of St. Paul itself. It is a critical natural habitat for endangered species like the native Rusty Patched Bumble Bee and an important migratory flyway. Archeological items have been found in the park indicating that the site had served as a village site for Dakota people. In the 1860s the area became an immigrant enclave for Swedes, Irish, Poles, Italians and Mexicans until the City forced out its residents and burned down the housing stock in 1956.