For many local families, the Lake St. Croix Overlook in Oak Park Heights is one of the best places to watch Fourth of July fireworks over the St. Croix River Valley. Long before today’s celebrations, visitors stopped here for the same sweeping view captured in this postcard from the Stillwater Public Library’s St. Croix Room postcard collection.
The postcard was produced sometime after 1965. It looks across the valley toward the Allen S. King Plant (Xcel Energy), which was completed in 1968.
The overlook itself has a much longer history. Located along Lookout Trail near the original junction of Trunk Highways 212 and 95, it was developed between 1938 and 1939. Workers with the National Youth Administration used limestone salvaged from the former Minnesota Territorial Prison to build the overlook’s distinctive stone walls and other features. In 2007, the site was added to the National Register of Historic Places for its historic significance and its National Park Service Rustic Style design.
Whether you’re stopping to admire the scenery, share a summer picnic, or gather for the Fourth of July fireworks, the overlook continues to offer one of the area’s most memorable views.
You can see this postcard anytime the library is open in the St. Croix Room postcard collection.
Source: Minnesota Department of Transportation, Stillwater Overlook (Lake St. Croix Overlook) historical information.