Growing up in Echo, Minnesota, Lou Macklanburg learned about building materials from hanging around his father’s hardware store. As a young man finding his way in Oklahoma City, he worked as a janitor, salesman, and bank teller before shipping off to France in World War I. After returning from the war he married Pansy Cardell and set about building his own home. However, he was not satisfied with available products when it came to sealing his doors and windows against the fierce Oklahoma winds so he invented his own product and formed the company that became Macklanburg-Duncan, Inc. The company grew rapidly, and Lou soon brought his father, three brothers, and sister Alma into the business.

As Macklanburg-Duncan grew into a major company Lou became an important industrialist, serving in a leadership role in the War Production Board during World War II and such organizations as State Fair Board. He and Pansy also donated their home on NE 18 to the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation for a child study center.

This park was named for Louis August Macklanburg by the city council in 1970.