eautiful Riverside Park has been the showcase of southeast Kansas since its inception in 1914. In a scenic setting unmatched anywhere, roads wind along the bank of the Verdigris River, through stately oak and other native trees, past rocky hillsides sprinkled with wildflowers, and over gulley, valleys, and draws.

106 acre Riverside Park began as a drive along the river, sunken garden, and band stand. Citizens and civic groups soon added tennis courts (best in the state at that time), playground apparatus, zoo, picnic shelters, and swimming and wading pools. The focal point the was, and still is today, the magnificent sandstone Stich Shelter House constructed in 1917, Mrs. Adolph Carl Stich donated $35,000 in memory of her husband to build the shelter which features beautiful architecture, open "wings" or porches, a fireplace, restrooms below and a central location.

The Concession House, built in 1923, was another early feature. Today this screened shelter with four picnic tables can, like other park buildings, be reserved for small fee.

By 1925, the park was essentially laid out as it remains today. The years 1930 to 1940 saw great improvements through the efforts of the Work Projects Administration (WPA). The roads were paved, the stadium wall built, and a great deal of work in the zoo including buildings, pens, a monkey house, monkey island, and the swan pool was completed all resulting from WPA work. WPA workers added two more picnic shelters, the Rock Kitchen, built in 1935 and featuring four picnic tables, and the Lone Chief Cabin. Built as a log cabin from park timber in 1934, the Lone Chief Cabin burned and was rebuilt of stone in 1948 with Spencer Memorial Fund money and Metro Club Labor. The Lone Chief features a fireplace, sinks, outside restrooms, and greater seclusion.

From 1950 to 1956, the new merry-go-round, miniature train, 1050 locomotive, bird aviary, and Susie the elephant, were added. In more recent years, the Lions Club Kiddy land, fire truck, jet plane, dinosaur, rose garden, miniature golf, Stevens small animal shelter, and a life-size Fiberglass Corythosaurus dinosaur, from the 1965 New York World's Fair (a donation from the Atlantic-Richfield Company) have been the main additions.