Minisa Park

#82 Minisa Park – 704 W 13th St N, 67203

Background: Minisa was formerly known as the Wichita Municipal Tourist Camp. From 1923-1931, the park was a camping site for tourists.

In 1938, the park was renamed Minisa after a song written by Wichita composer Thurlow Lieurance. (1878-1963) Thurlow was inspired by Native American music and best known for his piece “By the Waters of Minnetonka”. He was also the Dean of Fine Arts at the University of Wichita and founder of the Minisa Symphony Orchestra.

Minisa is a Chippewa word meaning “red water at sunset”.

There was always a discussion in the KSN Newsroom whether it was pronounced Min-A-Saw or Ma-Nis-ah or Ma-Ni-skaI did call the park board and the correct pronunciation is Ma-Nis-Ah

What we did: It was a cool and crisp afternoon, but we spotted a group of boys shooting hoops on the basketball court, a woman contemplating on a rock (contemplating why she is sitting on a cold rock?) and two people walking their dogs. (they were not cleaning up after their pooches, which is bad form)

This is one of Wichita’s many parks that run along the river, and the only one that offers a great view of North High School. I’m an East Ace all the way, but I will admit North is a beautiful building.

The playground is pretty good size with some fun elements.

We also walked along the river, but stopped short of going under the Minisa bridge as it has sadly become a homeless encampment.

The legend says that a headless horseman rides through this New York town, but the park displaying the same name is far from scary.