Established in 1981 through a donation from the Federal Highway Administration, the image that Giles Park reflects is that of the Ward-Meade neighborhood itself: homely and wholesome. For those motorists exiting I-70 Westbound at 1st Street, this little park may not produce a double-take at first; however, it demands recognition and respect to its name.

    Frye W. Giles was among nine men that met in the winter of 1854 to establish what would later become Topeka. In 1885 he was appointed as the city's first postmaster, then nearly a decade later would establish the city's first bank. Giles would eventually become the President of the Topeka National Bank. In 1886, Giles published Thirty Years in Topeka, a collection of personal accounts compiled through the first 30 years of Topeka's existence.