Emporia’s Hispanic Heritage Month activities continued Saturday.
Las Casitas Park held a fiesta, which included a new mural around the stage building. Mural creator Deon Morrow had fond memories of Las Casitas growing up.
Residents enjoyed a parade, food, music and pinatas in addition to the mural’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.
After a playground was installed relatively recently, City Manager Trey Cocking says the city is listening for the prospect of more improvements.
The Las Casitas Association is hoping for additional improvements, including more parking, a larger shelter house, a community center, larger park signage and a memorial wall and walkway to honor Hispanic residents who have contributed to Emporia’s way of life.
The park is located in what used to be Emporia’s “Little Mexico” or “La Colonia,” depending on who you talked with. In the early 1900s, the Santa Fe Railroad brought over 200 residents of Old Mexico to work Emporia’s railyards and built small brick homes called “Las Casitas” for their families.
