Stories by author "Tracy L. Rebstock": 42
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Joel E. Ferris Perennial Gardens: Manito Park Tour
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…
Indian Canyon Park
This hidden and beautiful park sits just off Riverside Drive under the shadow of a railroad trestle.
This park was once home to several Native Americans including Chief Spokan Garry. Native…
Palisades Park
Palisades Park starts high above Spokane and includes about 700 acres. The cross streets are Greenwood Rd. and Rimrock Drive. The park is considered both conservation land and a city park and…
Ben Burr Trail
This trail constructed along an abandoned railroad line was part of the old Spokane and Inland Empire Railroad Company. This passenger line transported people within Spokane as well recreational…
Aubrey L. White Parkway: Spokane Park Highlights Tour
Aubrey L. White is the known as the father of Spokane's Parks. He arrived in Spokane in 1889 and spent a lot of time mapping, marking, and noting the incredible views and features in the Spokane…
Grant Park
Grant Park sits in the newly revitalized Perry Street District on the lower South Hill. This park is unique in that it was originally designed to be a playfield, originally called the U. S. Grant…
High Bridge Park: Spokane Park Highlights Tour
High Bridge Park has had a variety of uses including a motor camp, sanitarium for tuberculosis, temporary home to a steam locomotive, federal housing for veterans, a potential zoo site, a dude ranch…
Polly Judd Park
Polly Judd was an enthusiastic supporter of Spokane Parks and was active in the community. According to her obituary on March 30, 1981 in the Spokane Daily Chronicle, she was one of the founders of…
Underhill Park
Underhill park started as Underhill Playfield. Unlike many of the other early parks in Spokane, which were meant to be landscaped gardens of peace and contemplation, this park was designed to have…
Minnehaha Health Spa and Resort
When Edgar J. Webster came to Spokane in 1883 he planned to practice law. He built his summer home on the outskirts of the growing city of Spokane in a place called Minnehaha. The stone building…
High Drive Parkway
The breathtaking views ago High Drive are the highlight of Spokane's system of scenic roadways.
The system was laid out a century ago and is described in the Park Board Report of 1913, "High Drive…
Riverside State Park: Spokane Park Highlights Tour
The land where Riverside State Park sits was once lands used by the Spokane Tribe and other local tribes. The Native Americans would meet at the Spokane Falls or near the confluence of the Little…
Edwidge Woldson Park
Seventh Avenue and the lower South Hill was once the neighborhood of Spokane elites. Bankers, senators, businessmen, mining and lumber entrepreneurs, doctors, architects, and lawyers built their…
Cliff Park: Spokane Park Highlights Tour
Standing at 2260 feet above sea level, this volcanic outcrop was used by the Spokane Tribe as a lookout. On a clear day you can see as far as the Little Spokane River and Mount Spokane.
The park…
The Colorful Past of Minnehaha Park
According to a long time Spokane resident, the City of Spokane had a reputation of "being a little on the wild side when it came to the proverbial wine, women, and song." By the early 19th Century,…
Mount Spokane: Known as scq’wulsm to the Spokane Tribe, Mount Spokane has been important to local residents for 10.000 years.
While Mount Spokane was never officially a Spokane Park, the Spokane Parks department helped take care of it and was concerned with its future.
Previously known as Mount Baldy and Mount Carlton,…
Tourist Camp at High Bridge Park
This camp site along Hangman creek in High Bridge park was a tourist destination from the early 1920s until the 1950s. Featured in the December 1946 trailer topics magazine, Westward Ho, the article…
Cowley Park
This small park between West Sixth and Seventh Avenue off Division is nestled in the South Hill Medical Complex. This area was where the Spokane Indians established their winter quarters but when…
20th Street Entrance: Manito Park Tour Spokane Park Highlights Tour
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…
Making Way for the Freeway: Liberty Park
Decline of the old Liberty Park began in the 1950s when the Spokane Park Board decided to fill in the pond for health reasons. In 1952 the city decided to dump nonburnable waste into the depression…
Nishinomiya Tsutakawa Japanese Garden: Manito Park Tour Spokane Park Highlights Tour
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…
Japanese Gardens - Sister City Program: Manito Park Tour
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…
Stadacona Circle
Today a part of Grant Park, Stadacona Circle was one of the earliest parks in Spokane. Once located on Eleventh Avenue between Ivory and Arthur Streets, this small 1.3 acre park was donated to the…
Comstock Park
Comstock Park is one of many philanthropic works in Spokane. By the 1930s, park design had different priorities, recreation rather than contemplation and an emphasis on youth activities. Mr. and Mrs.…
John A. Finch Arboretum
Nestled between two busy highways, the John A. Finch Arboretum is a quiet getaway from the hustle and bustle of Spokane. With only the hum of the highway to distract visitors, this 56 acre park…
Chief Garry Park
Chief Garry Park is the principal place in the city where Chief Spokan Garry is remembered and honored. The park dates back to 1912 when seven acres of land were purchased and set aside as a…
People's Park: Expo '74 and Riverfront Park
Once an Indian winter camp, this area where Hangman Creek (Latah Creek) and the Spokane River merge has been a popular site for campers, transients, and picnickers. According to Curly Jim, from the…
Spokane's Amusement Park: Natatorium Park
In 1968, Natatorium closed. For some it would be the close of an era, for others, it was a long time coming. Though Natatorium was never owned by the Spokane Parks Department, it was a park many…
The Manito Park Zoo: Manito Park Tour Spokane Park Highlights Tour
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…
Corbin Park: Spokane Park Highlights Tour
"Lemonade and garden hats" are the legacy of Corbin Park according to an article in the Spokane Daily Chronicle in 1973. This tranquil, oval shaped park nestled among some of the busiest roads in…