Online guidebook can tell you all about the Como Woodland Outdoor Classroom
Have you walked in the Como Woodland Outdoor Classroom in Como Regional Park and wondered about those numbered posts or were curious about the history of the area? The recently completed online publication, Como Woodland Outdoor Classroom Guidebook, can answer your questions.
The guidebook describes the Woodland’s eight native plant communities and its historical features, including the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Fireplace, Joyce Kilmer Cascades, streetcar bridge and propagation gardens. Information about these natural and historical features is connected to 27 numbered posts along the newly paved and gravel trails.
Did you know that while American Indians certainly traveled through this area, the first owner (as indicated on a map) was Lewis W. Bryson? He bought the land in 1849 from John Lumley, a young soldier who received it in return for fighting in the U.S.-Mexican War. Do you know what defines a “savannah” vs. a “woodland” vs. a “forest”? Among other things, it is the number of trees per acre. You can learn a lot more from the Como Woodland Outdoor Classroom Guidebook at www.stpaul.gov/departments/parks-recreation/natural-resources/environmental-education/como-woodland-outdoor.
Funding from the Minnesota Historical Society paid for the historical research, development of the interpretive post content and publishing of the online guidebook.
For more information, contact Teri Heyer, Como Woodland Outdoor Classroom Advisory Committee chair at Teri.heyer@gmail.com.
