As a young girl Sophia Ella Parker came to Oklahoma from Texas around 1900 with her parents and two brothers. She grew up on the Parker family farm a bit north across NE 36 from this park. One of the Parkers’ neighbors was the Alonzo Minnis family and in 1912, Sophia married Roland Minnis, the friend she’d grown up with across the road. Sophia was an active community leader and regular volunteer at nearby Dunjee High School and in later years she was honored as a pioneer resident of this area.

If you are wondering why this park has “Lake View” in its name, it’s because the natural depression along the creek to the southeast is a reservoir that was once called Minnis Lake. The city bought this land in 1968 to provide a neighborhood park and a year later, at the request of community leaders, the city council named this park Minnis Lake View Park.