Victory Memorial Drive

Victory Memorial Drive is a 1.4-mile formal parkway in north Minneapolis lined with 568 trees, each commemorating a Hennepin County resident who died in the First World War. The drive runs from Webber Park in the north to Theodore Wirth Park in the south, its formal tree-lined character a continuation of the Minneapolis Parks system's tradition of landscaped urban parkways.

The drive is most impressive in autumn, when the maples and oaks planted to replace the lost elms turn colour. The parkway is open to cars but primarily used by cyclists and pedestrians. The surrounding north Minneapolis neighbourhood — historically African-American and currently undergoing significant economic stress — gives the drive a context that the formal parkway design does not prepare you for.

things to do sight
A story
Victory Memorial Drive was established in 1921 as a memorial to Hennepin County residents killed in World War I — at the time, it was one of the largest living memorial projects in the United States. Each of the 568 trees on the drive represents a specific individual, identified by a bronze plaque at the base. The decision to use elms — the dominant street tree of early 20th-century American parkways — meant the avenue was devastated by Dutch elm disease in the 1970s. A replanting program began in the 1990s using disease-resistant elms and other species.