More on The Founding of Manito Park – The Next Chapter….

According to the book, “Manito Park: A Reflection of Spokane’s Past”, by Tony Bamonte and Suzanne Schaeffer Bamonte of www.tornadocreekpublications.com:

By 1903 most of Cook’s properties on Cook’s Hill had been acquired by a number of land speculators.  Several of them, including Jay and his brother Will Graves, formed the Spokane-Washington Improvement Company to develop and promote their new Manito Addition, bounded by 14^th Avenue on the north, 33^rd avenue on the south, Hatch to the east, and Division to the west.  Intent on providing reliable public transportation to the Manito area, Graves had acquired the Spokane & Montrose street railway late in 1902.  He immediately began converting it from narrow to standard gauge track and improving the cars.

His next step was to organize the owners of the adjacent properties to offer a large tract of acreage to the city for a park.  Along with the Spokane-Washington Improvement Company and Spokane & Montrose Motor Railroad Co., the Washington Water Power Company, Northwestern and Pacific Hypotheekbank, and Frank Hogan collectively contributed nearly 95 acres to the city.  In exchange for this park acreage, the city agreed to pay the costs to improve the area, specifically to build a road system around the new park and bring in the main waterline.   Although legal title was not transferred until the following year, Montrose Park took on new ownership, a new name and a definite sense of direction.  A July 31, 1903 article in the Spokane Daily Chronicle announced the proposed boundaries for the park.

This article also proclaimed the new name for the park “…Manita [sic] Park, referring to its elevation, which affords a fine view of the city.”  The developers of the Manito Addition understood “Manito” to be an Indian word for “hilltop”, as indicated in a brochure they published to promote their Manito properties.  More specifically, it is an Algonquin (a North American tribe originally from the area of Quebec, Canada) word meaning “spirit” or “a supernatural force that pervades nature,” still a fitting description for the area.

The story will continue next week with more details about the founding of this marvelous park.  Please click over to www.ManitoPark.org again then.