Though Downtown and its picturesque old buildings are the heart of Sioux City today, this was not always the case. Sioux City actually began west of what is now Downtown, when Dr. John Cook platted the city from the top of Prospect Hill. The diagonal streets on the Westside were the original streets of the city, designed to follow the geographical features of the area rather than the north-south grid we see in Downtown. Development of the area was sluggish due to the fact that this area even today lacks a real “center.” Other areas of town had something to spur settlement; Downtown had the business district along 4th Street, Northside had Peirce’s Addition, the Floyd River Valley had the stockyards, and Morningside had its college. Westside lacked a similar central feature, but nevertheless settlement did pick up in the 1870s and 1880s with the opening of an industrial center along Perry Creek and wealthier Sioux City citizens began selling land out there. This area of town actually became famous for its parks, and today the two of the largest city parks, Stone Park and Riverside Park, are located on the Westside.