Just off the Penn Ave. exit from I-394, Bryn Mawr Park, located on Morgan Ave. N, offers something for everyone to enjoy. The picnic area, totlot playground and wading pool are popular gathering places and the sports complex draws athletes from across the region. The baseball, softball and cricket fields are home to public and private sports leagues and play host to citywide and regional tournaments.
Other athletic and recreational amenities include a soccer field, tennis courts and walking paths. In winter, the park offers skating and broom ball rinks. Bicyclists will appreciate the adjacent Cedar Lake Trail and the Luce Line Trail, which runs through the park, connecting it to nearby Bassett's Creek Valley Park and Theodore Wirth Park.
The park and surrounding neighborhood are named after a farm that occupied the region. Meaning “great hill” in Welsh, Bryn Mawr farm was owned by John Oswald, a member of the first Board of Park Commissioners. Acquired from Oswald’s estate in 1911, the park has been shaped geographically and functionally by highway expansion. In the 1960s, part of the park was lost to build what is now I-394, while several of the park’s sports fields were added to replace diamonds at Parade Athletic Fields that were also lost to the highway’s construction.
Historical Profile: More information about this and other parks is included in Parks, Lakes, Trails and So Much More, a richly detailed account of the histories of Minneapolis’ renown recreational system.
