...from slphistory.org

All but gone now, the roadside parks of Highway 100 were nothing less than a phenomenon - so much so that families came out to the highway just for the ride and the opportunity to picnic among the lilacs. The furniture was stone, and the three-family barbeque grills took the name "beehives."

But the Highway 100 of 1937 was no match for the needs of the new millennium, and most of the parks had to be sacrificed.  Now there are two in St. Louis Park:  the so-called "St. Louis Park Park," located by the Nordic Ware tower, and Lilac Park, just north of Minnetonka Blvd.  The beehive at Lilac Park must be moved before the road gets widened again.  The St. Louis Park Historical Society is currently working with officials from the City, Mn/Dot, State Preservation, and the bike trails commission to preserve and relocate this wonderful artifact from our city's past. This chapter celebrates these much-loved roadside retreats. A great deal of the following material was provided by the people at Mn/DOT, who appreciate the historical value of these parks and safeguard their historical records. A major resource is the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) prepared by Mn/DOT in the 1990's.
The first section lays the foundation of the roadside park movement, using Americans on the Road: From Autocamp to Motel, 1910-1945 by Warren James Belasco as a resource. It also provides the history behind the creation of the parks.
The second section describes the Highway 100 parks in detail. It is written in the present tense and describes the parks as they existed in the summer of 2000.

To read the rest, please visit slphistory.org's "HWY 100 Roadside Parks" page...