Where is “Cliff Park”?

Closely related both in time and geography to the new Manito Park project was the development of Cliff Park (located directly above “The Hill”).  An October 17, 1903 Spokesman Review article stated:

Spokane is likely to have one of the finest scenic driveways in the country in the near future.  Negotiations are now pending for the vacation of a boulevard site on the edge of the great cliff which overhangs the southern part of the city.  The boulevard idea has been formulated in connection with the big park project developed recently for the picturesque area on top of the bluff.

For a half mile the edge of the cliff is nearly level, providing a site upon which a driveway could be graded without great expense.  Rugged formations of basaltic rock, the beauty of which can only be appreciated from close at hand, are piled fantastically, forming the precipitous cliff.

Scores of people visit the cliff daily in good weather, owing to the natural beauty of the immediate surrou9ndings and the wonderful view of the city, the valley and the mountains beyond.  With a fine driveway itself would make Spokane famous, as it would be ranked with the most picturesque in the world.

UNITE TWO PARKS

Manito and Cliff Park would be united by the proposed boulevard.  Manito Park is the 95 acres just donated to the city by the interest which are developing three new additions on the top of the cliff and adjacent to the new Graves street railway line.  There are 52 acres donated by the Spokane-Washington Improvement Company on behalf of Manito Park addition, 36 acres by the Washington Water Power company on behalf of the South Side Cable addition and seven acres by Frank Hogan on behalf of his own tract, contiguous to the other two.

The proposed cliff boulevard would pass through the big new park, and connect with Manito boulevard, the 175 foot driveway which has been laid out through Manito Park addition to the south.  The park itself, as well as the resident sections, always will be exceeding picturesque, owing to the rock formations, the pines and the verdure.

Cliff park is in the center of the old Cliff park addition, the property of the Northwest Improvement company, a subsidiary corporation of the Northern Pacific railway.  Cliff park has been platted around a huge rock that is the monarch of all the cliff region, towering from 75 to 100 feet above the uplands.  The great rock is nearly an acre in size and except to the most expert is now accessible only at one place.  Its precipitous sides in some places have the same fluted formation as the giant’s causeway on the coast of Ireland, while in others the crumbling black basalt has been interwoven with vines and covered with clinging moss.  The park which has been dedicated to the city consists of about seven acres, including the great rock.