Thanks to Mississippi Valley Montessori School for their support. Located in West St. Paul since 1967, they’re an AMI-accredited Montessori school serving children up to age 6. Email us for more info.
Dedicated on October 4, 1986, the Reuel D. Harmon Overlook at the corner of Wentworth and Charlton offers a view of preserved wetlands at Dodge Nature Center. Harmon donated the two-acre vacant lot and helped pay to transform it from “an eyesore to a window with a spectacular view of the center’s property.”
History: The vacant lot at the southwest corner of Wentworth and Charlton hosted overnight parking for semi-trucks and local farmers selling vegetables during harvest season. It was also apparently a favorite spot for young couples to park. Prior to that there was a house on the corner owned by the Marthaler family, who sold it in 1967.
Transformation: Ten months and $50,000 transformed the corner, thanks to the work of professional landscape designer Harry Johannsen from the former West St. Paul Nursery. A wooden deck with benches and a railing overlooks a pond. A bronze plaque on a man-made boulder names the site with the inscription, “His vision is reflected by the beauty surrounding us.”
“It’s only a little corner, but it carries a big message.”
Jim Malkowski, Former Executive Director of Dodge Nature Center (South-West Review, Oct. 13, 1986)
Who Was Reuel D. Harmon?
A philanthropist and president of Webb Publishing, Harmon worked with Olivia Dodge to purchase the property that established Dodge Nature Center.
- He served as Sunfish Lake’s first mayor in 1958.
- He served a dizzying array of organizations, including the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce, St. Paul Civic Center, Governor’s Advisory Commission of the Minnesota Department of Economic Development, Carpenter Nature Center, Minnesota Parks and Trails Council, Fort Snelling State Park Association, Science Museum of Minnesota, Minnesota Club, Advertising Club of St. Paul, James J. Hill Reference Library, Printing Industry of America, Minnesota Parks, Wilder Foundation, Bush Foundation, Planned Parenthood, First National Bank of St. Paul, Soo Line Railroad, Carleton College, St. Paul Foundation, Miller Hospital in St. Paul, and more.
- Harmon died in 1994 at the age of 90.
- His estate left $2.8 million to Dodge Nature Center.
“Reuel Harmon was known as one of the most public-spirited citizens of our community. He was not a golfer or a sports fan or any of those kind of things. He devoted his energy and interests to the land and things which would serve the public good. We Minnesotans, I think, are blessed with many people of that type.”
Samuel Morgan, a longtime friend (Pioneer Press, April 27, 1994)
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