Frank Holten State Recreation Area

Frank Holten State Recreation Area is an urban Illinois state park on 1,080 acres (437 ha) in unincorporated Centreville Township, St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. It is located less than five miles southeast of the Gateway Arch in Greater St. Louis. The park is bisected by Interstate 255.

Frank Holten State Recreation Area
Map of the U.S. state of Illinois showing the location of Frank Holten State Recreation Area
Location4500 Pocket Road, Centreville Township, Illinois, USA
Nearest cityEast St. Louis, Illinois
Coordinates38°35′30″N 90°05′42″W
Area1,080 acres (437 ha)
Established1964
Governing bodyIllinois Department of Natural Resources

History

In 1932, the City of East St. Louis completed Lake Park, its second large city park, after 28 years of planning and at a cost of $5 million. At the time, it was the third largest municipal park in the nation (after Central Park in New York and Forest Park in neighboring St. Louis).[1] Unfortunately, it was too expensive to maintain so it was sold to the State of Illinois in 1964 for $1 and renamed Grand Marais State Park, after the geographic area's historic name Grand Marais (French for "large swamp" or "great marsh"). Its name was changed to Frank Holten State Park on May 1, 1967, in honor of the recently deceased distinguished legislator from East St. Louis, who served the region in the Illinois General Assembly for 48 years.[2]

The Grand Marais name is preserved through the 18-hole Grand Marais Golf Course. The park also contains two lakes, Whispering Willow Lake and Grand Marais Lake, that total more than 200 acres of water and 5 miles of shoreline.[3]

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References
  1. "Parsons Field: Even Teenagers Needed a Place to Play | Preservation Research Office". Retrieved 2020-03-02.
  2. Raman K. Raman and William C. Bogner (December 1994). "Frank Holten State Park Lakes: Phase III, Post-Restoration Monitoring". S2CID 133373695. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. "Frank Holten State Recreation Area - Parks". www2.illinois.gov. Retrieved 2020-03-02.


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