Swede Hollow

Swede Hollow is an 18-acre ravine adjacent to the Mississippi River in St. Paul which attracted many Swedish immigrants to settle there and join its nearby sawmill industry in the early 20th century. But in 1956, the local Health Department discovered that Swede Hollow had no sewer or city water service and declared the area inhabitable. Families moved out and homes destroyed. For fifteen years the land became a dumping area until the St. Paul Garden Club decided to transform the space into a city park for their Bicentennial Project.

The club contacted the St. Paul City Council with an offer to develop the land into a park if the St. Paul Parks Department would clean it up and maintain it. The offer was accepted and plans began. By 1975, an amphitheater paved with cobblestones and a trail around the Hollow had been completed. In 1976, the club published a brochure on the hollow and the Governor of Minnesota, Wendell Anderson, presented them with a Certificate of Recognition. The 1977 Founders Fund Award allowed the completion of the park.

The St. Paul Garden Club has continued to support the Swede Hollow Park with the addition of native trees, shrubs and forbs. Now, a lovely tree-filled valley, Swede Hollow resembles the land that attracted settlers in early 1800’s. Open to the public, the park now features a trail connecting the hollow with the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary