Duncan Gardens: Manito Park Tour
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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.
Files
The Duncan Gardens
Image courtesy of Flickr user hey tiffany! under a Creative Commons License
John Duncan
John Duncan, Park Superintendent, 1910-1942, Image courtesy of the Tony and Suzanne Bamonte Collection.
Manito Flower Garden, c. 1910s
This lantern slide shows the gardens early in the stages of development Image courtesy of the Spokane City Historic Preservation Office Photograph Collection held at the Washington State Digital Archives
Duncan Gardens, 1960s
This photograph was used by Spokane's Chamber of Commerce to encourage visitation to the park. Note the many landscaped transformations the gardens have under gone. Image courtesy of the Spokane City Historic Preservation Office Photograph Collection at the Washington State Digital Archives
Sunken Gardens
Image from Duncan Gardens Folder, Spokane Parks and Recreation Department Files, Spokane City Hall, 5th Floor, Spokane, WA. | Source: Manito General #1 Beginning through 1969, Spokane Parks and Recreation Department Files, Spokane City Hall, 5th Floor, Spokane, WA
Duncan Gardens 1942
Image from Marty Johnstone, Personal Collection | Source: Marty Johnstone, Duncan Gardens, 1942, Personal Collection
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.