Creve Coeur Lake Memorial Park (also called Creve Coeur County Park) is a St. Louis County

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

located in

Maryland Heights Maryland Heights is a second-ring west-northwest suburb of St. Louis, located in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 27,472 at the 2010 census. The city was incorporated in 1985. Edwin L. Dirck was appointed the city's ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The park is the largest in the St. Louis County Parks system and includes Creve Coeur Lake, an

oxbow lake An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or stream pool, pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is meander cutoff, cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. The word "oxbow" can also refer to a U-shaped bend in a river or stream, whether ...

which is one of the largest natural lakes in Missouri.

Naming

The name of the park, drawn from the French "''creve coeur''," is said to have originated from the shape of the lake. Folklore has it that it formed into the shape of a broken heart after an incident of unrequited love between a French fur trader and a local Native American woman. Brokenhearted, she cast herself into the lake, thus causing its reshaping, according to the tale.

Description

The park has facilities for

picnic A picnic is a meal taken outdoors (Al fresco dining, ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event su ...

king, tennis courts, multi-purpose athletic fields, and an archery course. Creve Coeur Park includes Crystal Springs Quarry Golf Course, an 18-hole course opened in 2001. In December 2003, construction for the Creve Coeur Lake Memorial Park Bridge, which is part of

Missouri Route 364 Route 364, known locally as the Page Extension, the Page Avenue Freeway, the Page Expressway, or simply the Extension, is a freeway that connects St. Louis County in Maryland Heights with St. Charles County in Lake St. Louis via the ...

, was completed. The concrete bridge connects St. Louis County to

St. Charles County St. Charles County is located in the central eastern part of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 405,262, making it Missouri's third-most populous county. Its county seat is St. Charles. The county was organ ...

and crosses over the southern end of the park. The project also included Creve Coeur Lake being

dredge Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing ...

d and the addition of a siltation lake to prevent the need for later dredging. Creve Coeur Lake Memorial Park has an asphalt walking trail around the lake, which was constructed by the

Missouri Department of Transportation The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT, ) is a state government organization in charge of maintaining public roadways of the U.S. state of Missouri under the guidance of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission (MHTC). MoDOT ...

alongside the bridge project. The trail also connects to a separate lane on the bridge leading across the

Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...

to connect to the

Katy Trail Katy Trail may refer to the following places in the United States: * Katy Trail (Dallas) 3.5 mile trail in Dallas, Texas * Katy Trail State Park The Katy Trail State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of Missouri that contains the Katy T ...

. A large portion of the park and surrounding area is also

wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

, and the park has been used for conservation purposes, particularly the study of various

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which i ...

History

The park was the first in the St. Louis County Park system and was dedicated in 1945. Originally a

resort A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that aims to provide most of a vacationer's needs. This includes food, drink, swimming, accommodation, sports, entertainment and shopping, on the premises. A hotel ...

, Creve Coeur Lake, which is , had hosted many boating events decades before the park officially opened. In June 1882, the

Mississippi Valley The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wa ...

was held at the lake. It also hosted the Creve Coeur Regatta and the Annual Races of the National Association of Amateur Oarsmen in 1904 (the

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...

competition for the

1904 Summer Olympics The 1904 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the III Olympiad and also known as St. Louis 1904) were an international multi-sport event held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from 1 July to 23 November 1904. Many events were conducted ...

),Spalding's report of the 1904 Summer Olympics.
p. 213. and it was the site where local sculler

Jacob Gaudaur Jacob Gill Gaudaur, Sr. (April 3, 1858 – October 11, 1937) was one of two Canadians to win the Professional World Sculling Championship. Gaudaur was born in Orillia, Ontario. His first race was when he was aged 17 years and over his career he ...

often competed, including his victory over John Teemer in a sculling match in 1884. Gaudaur was married to a resident of Creve Coeur, Cora Coons. A smaller, lake, called Mallard Lake, was constructed with the bridge project. Creve Coeur Park also comes with a reputation. During prohibition there were speakeasies, roadhouses, floating bars, restaurants, hotels, shooting ranges and stables. Gangsters and hoodlums also frequented the saloons, restaurants, and nightclubs located at the lakefront adding to the unsavory reputation it had at the time.

References

{{Olympic venues rowing Venues of the 1904 Summer Olympics Olympic rowing venues Tourist attractions in St. Louis 1945 establishments in Missouri Parks in St. Louis County, Missouri Oxbow lakes of the United States Lakes of Missouri