Duncan Gardens

Manito Park Tour

By Tracy L. Rebstock

John W. Duncan was the second park superintendent from 1910 to 1942. The garden is now named for him. It was his vision that created the gardens we see today.

Duncan came to Spokane from the Boston Park system and according to Aubrey L. White, former park board president, "he has been so successful that our parks are now nationally known."

If you look at the photos, you will see that the garden has had a variety of planting schemes, but the essential architecture has remained the same.The garden was designed in a classical European Renaissance style with bilateral symmetry, a central water feature, and geometrical planting beds.

"I do not suppose there is a single thing in our city that has been taken in as many snap shots as the sunken gardens," wrote Aubrey L. White in 1928. This has not changed. Every year volunteers help the Friends of Manito plant the Duncan Garden that attracts several visitors each year.


Video

Duncan Gardens
Images courtesy of the Ray Fisher Postcard Collection, Northwest Room, Spokane Public Library, Spokane, WA, the Tony and Suzanne Bamonte Collection, Spokane, WA and the Spokane Parks and Recreation Department, City Hall, Spokane WA.
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Images

Audio

How Sunken Gardens Got its Name
Information for this recording came from the "At 100 with Nature" article written by Jim Kershner, Spokesman Review, Sunday May 16, 2004.
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Map

Cite this Page

Tracy L. Rebstock, “Duncan Gardens,” Spokane Historical, accessed October 22, 2024, https://spokanehistorical.org/items/show/25.

Related Tours

Related Sources

  • Tony and Suzanne Bamonte, Manito Park: A Reflection of Spokane's Past (book) 1998, Spokane, WA; Manito Park - Duncan Gardens - Spokane Parks and Recreation Papers, City Hall, Spokane, Wa. City of Spokane Parks and Recreation Papers, Eastern Regional Branch, Washington State Archives, Cheney, WA; Mantio Park - Vertical File, Northwest Room, Spokane Public Library, Spokane, WA. Manito Park - Vertical File, Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, Spokane, WA. Jim Kershner, "At 100 with Nature," Spokesman Review, May 16, 2004, Lee Sahlin (1990) To Manitou, Northwest Room, Spokane Public Library, Spokane, WA.