List of evaluated roadside properties
Kenney Lake Overlook
SHPO number: CW-GRT-003
Kenney Lake Overlook is located on the southwestern side of Trunk Highway 18, about 2.4 miles northwest of its junction with Trunk Highway 169 in Crow Wing County, adjacent to Kenney Lake. The 2-acre site features a 250-foot-long stone overlook wall built of locally quarried granite. It was built in 1939 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.
Significant historic elements and status
Evaluated under the Multiple Property Documentation Form entitled “Federal Relief Construction in Minnesota, 1933-1941,” the Kenney Lake Overlook is significant for its association with the formative years of the Roadside Development Division of the Minnesota Department of Highways. It helped the agency meet important goals related to improving highway safety and aesthetics, supporting the automobile tourism industry, and providing roadside amenities to travelers. Kenney Lake Overlook was built in conjunction with the Mille Lacs Lake Highway Development Plan, an expansive state highway roadside development project built between 1935 and 1940 by the National Park Service, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and the Minnesota Highway Department, in cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Conservation. It was built by the Veterans Division of the CCC, a special division created specifically to provide support to veterans of World War I.
In addition to its historical associations, Kenney Lake Overlook is significant for its design in the National Park Service Rustic Style. National Park Service architect H.O. Skooglun teamed up on the design with consulting landscape architect A.R. Nichols and engineer Harold E. Olson, both of whom worked for the Minnesota Department of Highways. The principal task during construction was to recontour a landscape that had been greatly impacted by highway construction. Where possible, existing vegetation was retained, and new plants were chosen to blend the rest area into its natural setting and highlight the view of Kenney Lake. The scenic overlook wall itself is a sophisticated design built from rock-faced blocks of granite over a stone rubble core. It has a long, curving form that terminates with unique “niche” features at each end that originally held curved concrete and stone benches. A terrace and steps lead down to the shoreline on one end and a circular space which once featured an existing oak at the other end.
Features that contribute to and help convey the significance of the Kenney Lake Overlook include: the overlook wall’s location along shore of Kenney Lake; the overall spatial organization, circulation, and vegetation; the asymmetrical plan and high level of craftsmanship inherent in the stone overlook wall, and the open picnic areas and granite curbing.