The main entrance to Manito Park is now at 18th and Grand, but in earlier years the entrance was at 20th and Grand. While today the area is green with grass and shaded by a few trees, in the first years of the twentieth century the "See Spokane…

The Downtown Spokane Rotary Club constructed this cooking shelter in November 1960 at a cost of about $16,000. Dessigned by Henry Bertelsen, Eddy Carlson, and James Architects, It enclosed 2000 square feet, provided table space for 100, and was…

The lake before you originally stretched from Division to Grand. First named Mirror Lake, this shallow water feature (between two and five feet deep depending on the season), has been known over the years as Manito Pond, Mirror Pond, and the Duck…

The Park Bench Cafe marks the boundary between the zoo and the rest of the park at the corner of Tekoa and Manito. The zoo was part of Manito Park from 1905 to 1932. The area were the cafe now stands was covered with water, a pond for the ducks…

Most of Manito Park is visible from the top of Loop Drive. Did you ever wonder where Spokane got the land for this park? In 1884, Francis Cook, an early settler of Spokan Falls and a newspaper man who started the Spokan Times in 1879, platted the…

The Zoo was part of Manito Park from 1905 to 1932. There were several small animal cages near Rose Hill and the rock gardens, which housed skunk, coyote, bobcat, and other animals. While the zoo was a popular attraction, its upkeep proved…

From 1905 to 1932 during the zoo years at Manito this area was covered with decorative hedges and paths to different areas of the zoo. Reports list animal cages along the wall to the current Rose Garden. With the records that are available, it is…

When Francis Cook bought the land that would become Manito Park, he named it Montrose Park for its incredible selection of wild roses. Before Rose Hill was created, the area you are looking at was a spring fed pond where the elk and deer lived…

Before the Lilac Garden, this area was part of the Manito Zoo from 1905-1932, where buffalo roamed. One of the larger and more famous of the buffalo was King Ranger. When he died, his body was stuffed and given to the Cheney Cowles Museum in 1915. …

Before entering the Japanese Gardens, face northwest and you will see the Spokane Sister City sign at the corner of Bernard and Shoshone Place. The Sister City program idea started in the 1940s when a coastal city in Canada paired up with a coastal…

Before the Japanese Gardens, this area was part of the zoo from 1905 to 1932. This area was home to ostrich and emu. The Japanese Garden was designed by Nagao Sakurai. He designed 166 gardens all over the world. The idea for a Japanese Garden was…

The original greenhouse was on the corner of 18th and Grand until 1912, when it was relocated to its current location. It was renovated in 1974 in anticipation of the World Expo, and the central dome was added in 1988. The greenhouse served many…

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,…

This area of the park has always been a playground area for children, and if you had visited this section in 1910, it might have looked about the same. The playground is at the southern most edge of Manito Park, extending to 25th Street between…