Mankato Area Parks

By The Watchamacallits

In the 1970’s Mankato had 35 parks covering 689 acres, and North Mankato had another 20 parks spanning more than 150

acres

Today, we will show you a few of the many parks

that still exist in modern-day Mankato, MN.

Group Names:

• Travis – Intro and conclusion/Memorial Park

• James – Highland Park• Staci – Lincoln Park• A little on Memorial Park• Dionne – Minneopa Park• Scott & Mike – Sibley Park• Andy – Washington Park

Highland Park

• On Oct. 15, 1874, Mankato city council bought 10,28 acres for $150/acre. These were to be the grounds on which a new park was built.

Highland Park• First building was

built in 1905.

• Popular Tourist/camping site

• A camper from Nashville, Tennessee once quoted the park as being “hard to beat.”

Highland Park

• Also built by city to obtain a site for a well that would provide water to city residents that lived on the hill.

Highland Park

• Highland Park was deteriorated during WWII• It took many years of hard work to restore

the park to its present day appearance.

Lincoln Park

• Grounds for park purchased in 1885 by a group of citizens.

• It was deeded to the city of Mankato who agreed to maintain it as a park.

Lincoln Park• A Soldier Monument and fountain was built in the park

in 1893.• High winds destroyed the statue of the soldier• Walls of the fountain basin were left in place, no

attempts have been made thus far to restore it.

Lincoln Park

A large Elm Tree, expected to date back to 1776, was a signature feature of Lincoln

Park for a long time.It was used for the bicentennial celebration

of Mankato in 1976.

Lincoln Park

• The large Elm was reinforced several times to attempt to save its large body and branches from falling over.

• It succumbed to Dutch Elm disease in 1980• The tree was found to have been 315 years

old.

Memorial Park

Originally designed and built to be an area to relax and study.

Memorial Park

• Located off of Riverfront across from Reconciliation Park and the site of the Dakota Massacre. (By the big buffalo)

Minneopa Park

•“Twice falling water” ~ Dakota Sioux•One of the oldest state parks

•Oldest Park in Mankato•Largest Waterfall in southern MN

Minneopa Park

•2 Picturesque waterfalls

•Formed by Minneopa Creek

•Upper Fall:6-7ft high

•Lower Fall:40 foot drop

Minneopa Park

Current Facilities:

3 picnic areas

2 large open sheltersVisitors center

4.5-mile hiking trail

4-mile cross country ski trail

62 semi-moderate campsites

Minneopa Park

Fishing

Seppmenn Mill

Small Minneopa Village

Sibley ParkCity purchased land for Sibley Park in 1887.

One of the city’s largest parks

Park has an upper and lower level with Baseball diamonds and playgrounds on theriver side of the park

Sibley ParkIn 1965, the famous and highly popular Sibley Park Zoo

was nearly swept away when the Blue Earth and Minnesota river valleys flooded.

The rivers flooded because of excess runoff Of melting snow from the previous winter.

Sibley ParkOf the more than 100 animals who were housed at the zoo

at the time of the flood, only the larger ones survived.

Buffalo, bears, deer and elk, along with 4 monkeys, 2 alligators and an exotic breed of raccoon survived.

Sibley ParkThe few animals that did survive the flood were moved to

nearby Como Zoo in St. Paul.

The damaged park was cleaned up by someNeighborhood kids and youth groups.

Sibley Park• In 1989 the newly reestablished zoo consisted of a

prairie dog colony, deer, peacocks, rabbits & goats. • For the most part, the same animals remain today at

the Sibley Park Zoo.

Sibley Park

• Sibley functions as a great picnic area.• Good place to go to play catch or do some homework (in

the warm months, of course).• Or just laying on a blanket in the sun.

Washington Park

Located at 4th and Washington St.

Park appeared In 1918

Occupies 3.5 Acres of land,Purchased for$8,500.

Washington Park

Was once location of railroad yards for the Omaha Railroad…..

A large waterFountain onceStood tall inThe park, butIt has been Removed.

Washington Park

…but the railroad moved in 1906

Mankato’s Mayor Meyer once said that Washingtonpark was “truly a beautiful urban park set in a long-standing residential area

Washington Park

The moving of the railroad resulted in

the establishment of what today is known

as Mankato’s Washington Park

Washington park is an excellent park for picnics!

Our Group

Dionne, Mike, Staci, Scott, Andy, James(Travis took the picture)

When Things Go Crazy!!

El Fin

This has been a presentation of Mankato City Parks by the Watchamacallits!

(The End)

Any ?’s?