Jensen Point Overlook

Jensen Point was a project of the Henry Shaw Gardenway Association, which promoted the route between the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis and what was then called the Arboretum (today's Shaw Nature Reserve) in Gray Summit. Members of Company 1770 of the CCC, under the supervision of the National Park Service, built the hilltop stone tower, patios and steps to be a stopping point along the Gardenway and Route 66. The point is named for Lars Peter Jensen, the first president of the Gardenway association and the manager of the Arboretum for 18 years. He was born in Denmark in 1867 and died in Gray Summit in 1941. There is a memorial plaque inside the stone tower. It opened on Memorial Day 1939