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  <title type="text">Spokane Historical</title>
  <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
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  <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/</id>
  <author>
    <name>Spokane Historical</name>
    <uri>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org</uri>
  </author>
  <link rel="hub" href="https://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/"/>
  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[Water Power: MAC 100 Stories: A Centennial Exhibition ]]></title>
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<img src="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/files/fullsize/76edb89eb48ba688697d32dbb6bfc7ba.jpg" alt="Sawmill Phoenix, 1920s" /><br/><p>For nineteenth-century pioneers like James Glover, falling water represented power - the power to grind flour, to saw logs, and to build a city. These were the fundamental industrial activities in a region still rich in timber and already rich in grain and they would draw people to the village of Spokane Falls. The mill business, though lucrative, was also volatile. Owners made their profits then quickly sold out and moved on. As this doggrel from The Spokesman-Review put it:</p><p>"There was Simon, who built him a mill,</p><p>And dressed dudish sufficient to kill</p><p>On the banks of this stream</p><p>Ah it seems like a dream.</p><p>He's departed, but it's with us still."</p><p>But mills were also literally volatile. Flour and sawdust were both explosive and flammable. This spot was the site of the Spokane Mill Co., which survived the Great Fire of 1889 only to partially burn in 1892. To trap logs coming down the Spokane River, the mill companies filled the southern channel with earth.</p><p>Electricity in Spokane began in 1885 with a single generator in the Spokane Flour Mill. Demand grew rapidly, and four years later local investors formed Washington Water Power and built a power station near Monroe Street. The company ran electric streetcars to encourage residential expansion and grow the market for electricity. By 1920, Washington Water Power had electrified the Hillyard rail yards, built a 100-mile transmission line to the mines and constructed three dams along the Spokane River. Electrification brought enormous social and economic progress, but the dams that generated that power permanently altered the landscape and the fishing traditions of the Plateau tribes.</p><p>Harnessing the river defined Spokane as a community before, during and after the mining and railroad booms. In 1897, The Spokesman-Review asked its readers to celebrate the Spokane River in verse, and even the most satirical poems lauded the manifest and majestic power of the falls.</p><p>As years of European-American settlement passed into decades, the edge of the river became encrusted by businesses that depended on its power and water. Spokane was enriched by its namesake river, but only sometimes remembered it.</p><p>MAC 100 Stories: A Centennial Exhibition is told on the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture campus in Spokane's Browne's Addition, with additional highlights at 15 sites in Spokane and eastern Washington. The exhibit experience (February 22, 2014 - January 2016) weaves stories and programs about Inland Northwest people, places and events by capitalizing on the MAC's extraordinary collection. www.northwestmuseum.org </p><p>Spokane Historical presents 15 regional and city tours in partnership with the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture and its 100 Stories exhibition.</p><p><em><strong><a href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/14">For more (including 9 images) view the original article</a></strong></em></p>]]></summary>
    <published>2011-05-19T04:26:34+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/14"/>
    <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/14</id>
    <author>
      <name>Clayton Hanson</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[Bing Crosby&#039;s Childhood Home]]></title>
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<img src="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/files/fullsize/9b3d4e3cfb2b515c0c53db55db47a53d.jpg" alt="Bing Crosby&#039;s childhood home" /><br/><p>The Crosby family moved to Spokane in 1906 when Bing was three years old.  They lived in a rental home for seven years, just a few blocks away from this house which they built in 1913.  </p><p>The Crosby home is located at 508 E. Sharp Avenue.  The house in now part of the Gonzaga University Campus, and is known as the Crosby Alumni House.</p><p>Harry Lillis (Bing) Crosby was born in Tacoma, Washington, on May 3, 1903.  Harry was the fourth of seven children in a family that included four boys and two girls. Bing's father was Harry Lowe Crosby and his mother  was Catherine Harrigan.</p><p>In 1910, when Harry was seven, one of his friends began calling him "Bingo" from a local newspaper comic strip. The nickname was eventually shortened to Bing, and from that time on, he was called Bing by everyone but his mother.</p><p>In 1912, Bing was playing baseball for Webster Grade School, and he made his theatrical debut at North Central High School.  </p><p><em><strong><a href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/16">For more (including 7 images) view the original article</a></strong></em></p>]]></summary>
    <published>2011-05-19T04:27:16+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/16"/>
    <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/16</id>
    <author>
      <name>Billie Slick</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[Loop Drive and Bridge: Manito Park Tour]]></title>
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<img src="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/files/fullsize/0bb217053424fe6caf7e344c65f4d154.jpg" alt="Loop Bridge" /><br/><p>Most of Manito Park is visible from the top of Loop Drive.  Did you ever wonder where Spokane got the land for this park? </p><p>In 1884, Francis Cook, an early settler of Spokan Falls and a newspaper man who started the Spokan Times in 1879, platted the property on the South Hill thinking of the money to be made from the wooded and hilly area, perfect for fine residences.  Cook was a man of many firsts: he brought the first Italian bees, used the first steam drill, and organized the first agricultural fair north of the Snake River.  Cook purchased the forty acres where the Cathedral of St. John now stands and two years later purchased the 160 acres that included Manito park.</p><p>Francis Cook named this area Montrose Park for the wild roses that grew here.  In 1888 the first horse-powered trolley came up Grand Blvd; a few months later Cook had a streetcar powered by steam bringing people up the South Hill with his Spokan Falls and Montrose Motor Railroad Company.  They would get off at 14th street and walk the remaining distance to the park with their picnic baskets on sunny afternoons.</p><p>Unfortunately, Cook lost his house and land in the depression of 1893, and other parties quickly snapped it up. The new owners (Spokane Washington Improvement Company, Spokane and Montrose Motor Company, the Washington Water and Power Company, Hypotheek Bank, and E.P. Hogan) decided to give the ninety acres where Manito Park sits to the City of Spokane providing they run roads and water to the South Hill.  The City dedicated Manito Park in 1904. </p><p>The loop bridge was built in 1930 and reflects the style of buildings on the property at that time.</p><p><em><strong><a href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/23">For more (including 4 images&#32;&amp;&#32;1 audio file) view the original article</a></strong></em></p>]]></summary>
    <published>2011-05-22T21:11:27+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/23"/>
    <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/23</id>
    <author>
      <name>Tracy L. Rebstock</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[Upper Manito Playground: Manito Park Tour ]]></title>
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<img src="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/files/fullsize/a09b57a6e3c65b73fb974186eb783326.jpg" alt="Manito Playground" /><br/><p>This area of the park has always been a playground area for children, and if you had visited this section in 1910, it might have looked about the same.  The playground is at the southern most edge of Manito Park, extending to 25th Street between Tekoa and Division. People without children seldom visit this section of the park.</p><p>In the early days there wasn't money for park equipment for children to play on.  Charles Balzer, the park's first superintendent, built a swing set using power poles.  His son remembers his father giving away free ice cream one weekend to show park officials the need for playground equipment.  There were lines of children waiting to swing on the only two swings in the park.</p><p>In the 1913 Report of the Board of Park Commissions, John W. Duncan reported the fields were seeded and graded and ready for playfield purposes.  Four new tennis courts were added to the two existing ones at 17th and Grand, and a bowling green put in.  Occasionally Manito Park would host tennis tournaments on these courts, which were paved in 1926.</p><p>Over the years, the Parks Board added new pieces of playground equipment.  The playground had a wading pool, checkers, horseshoes, softball games, tennis, touch football, swings, slides, and parallel bars.  The playground has gone through several transitions through the years but it has always been a popular place for children to come and play.  In 2001, the Upper Manito Playground was the first playground in Spokane to install play equipment with a ramp and elevated play areas for children in wheelchairs.</p><p><em><strong><a href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/24">For more (including 2 images&#32;&amp;&#32;1 audio file) view the original article</a></strong></em></p>]]></summary>
    <published>2011-05-22T23:10:11+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/24"/>
    <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/24</id>
    <author>
      <name>Tracy L. Rebstock</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[ Duncan Gardens: Manito Park Tour]]></title>
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<img src="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/files/fullsize/479452d5968213ed985b3d80ea60cd92.jpg" alt="The Duncan Gardens" /><br/><p>John W. Duncan was the second park superintendent from 1910 to 1942.  The garden is now named for him.  It was his vision that created the gardens we see today.</p><p>Duncan came to Spokane from the Boston Park system and according to Aubrey L. White, former park board president, "he has been so successful that our parks are now nationally known."</p><p>If you look at the photos, you will see that the garden has had a variety of planting schemes, but the essential architecture has remained the same.The garden was designed in a classical European Renaissance style with bilateral symmetry, a central water feature, and geometrical planting beds.</p><p>"I do not suppose there is a single thing in our city that has been taken in as many snap shots as the sunken gardens," wrote Aubrey L. White in 1928.  This has not changed.  Every year volunteers help the Friends of Manito plant the Duncan Garden that attracts several visitors each year. </p><p><em><strong><a href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/25">For more (including 6 images, 1 audio file,&#32;&amp;&#32;1 video) view the original article</a></strong></em></p>]]></summary>
    <published>2011-05-23T00:48:15+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/25"/>
    <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/25</id>
    <author>
      <name>Tracy L. Rebstock</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[The Benny and Joon House]]></title>
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<img src="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/files/fullsize/50dc0f3565b3b07be339cccbd9c1dced.jpg" alt="[Untitled]" /><br/><p>The Benny and Joon house is located at 301 N. Cedar Street in Peaceful Valley.  The movie was released in 1993 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The cast of the film included Johnny Depp, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Aiden Quinn.  Benny and Joon was shot on location in Spokane.  Scenes in this movie depict well known landmarks in Spokane such as River Front Park, the Maple street bridge and Ferguson's Cafe in the Garland district.  </p><p>Benny and Joon was not the first major motion picture to be filmed in Spokane.  Fool's Gold, which was filmed in 1919, was Spokane's first brush with Hollywood.  Since this time over 50 films have been shot in Spokane.  Hollywood actors such as Cuba Gooding Jr., John Travolta, and Robin Williams have graced Spokane with their presence.  </p><p><em><strong><a href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/27">For more (including 7 images&#32;&amp;&#32;1 audio file) view the original article</a></strong></em></p>]]></summary>
    <published>2011-05-24T20:03:13+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/27"/>
    <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/27</id>
    <author>
      <name>Danielle Mujica</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[Showalter Hall]]></title>
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<img src="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/files/fullsize/0c0d37640b7d171104d65facea935600.jpg" alt="Aftermath of the Normal School fire 1912" /><br/><p>The building you are now facing is Showalter Hall, the oldest building on campus dating back to EWU's second incarnation as a teachers college. Throughout the history of EWU its development has been closely linked to the development of the local area. </p><p>Washington Territory became Washington State In November, 1889, which precipitated rapid growth in the eastern region.  Before long Spokane County began to coalesce, and the residents of Cheney in particular intended their town to be the county seat and biggest settlement. By 1889, however, Cheney had lost the competition to Spokane Falls (renamed Spokane in 1891). Nevertheless, the increase in population came along with a demand for more school teachers. </p><p>Beginning in the 1880s, the territorial government began to plan a new teachers' college for Eastern Washington. At the time, most places in the United States had established Normal Schools, institutions the sole purpose of which were training school teachers. Organizers chose the site of the recently-defunct Benjamin P. Cheney academy building in1890 and classes began immediately. Unfortunately, a fire of unknown cause consumed it in 1891, but the Normal School reopened later that year after temporary headquarters were found. Two new structures (an administration building and teacher training building) were added by 1896 and 1908 respectively. </p><p>In 1912 the original administration building was destroyed in a second fire and was replaced by Showalter Hall in 1915.  The teacher training building was demolished in 1940. </p><p><em><strong><a href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/28">For more (including 7 images&#32;&amp;&#32;2 audio files) view the original article</a></strong></em></p>]]></summary>
    <published>2011-05-24T21:41:45+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/28"/>
    <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/28</id>
    <author>
      <name>John Moudy</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[Welcome to Greenwood Cemetery]]></title>
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<img src="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/files/fullsize/528a100a64af4c7fcaa86fe7a64f1099.jpg" alt="Greenwood Main Entry" /><br/><p>Welcome to Greenwood Memorial Terrace. A walk through this cemetery will be a tour through Spokane's history.</p><p>In the late nineteenth century, Spokane Falls of the Washington Territories had a problem. Entrepreneurs were flocking to the young city attracted by mining, railroad, and timber opportunities. People came to make their fortune, and others came to leverage a fortune they already had. The small city cemeteries, once on the edges of town, had been rolled over by development and were strained by a population that threatened their capacity. </p><p>Established in 1888 and designed on some of Europe's great Victorian garden cemeteries, Greenwood was a place for the general public to enjoy refined outdoor family leisure. Developed as domesticated landscape with natural features including paths, a water fall, spring fed fountains, and serpentine roads winding along natural contours of the land, Greenwood was no less than the grand vision of the young city itself.</p><p>The first burial in Greenwood is that of Mrs. H.F. Nothbohm, on July 1, 1888. About fifty bodies exhumed from the old Mountain View Cemetery located in Cannon's Addition on the lower South Hill, were moved to Greenwood, along with a number of bodies from the Moran Prairie Cemetery, the pioneers cemetery in Spokane.</p><p><em><strong><a href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/30">For more (including 4 images&#32;&amp;&#32;1 video) view the original article</a></strong></em></p>]]></summary>
    <published>2011-05-25T13:50:53+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/30"/>
    <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/30</id>
    <author>
      <name>Anne Coogan-Gehr</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[Chief Spokane Garry Memorial]]></title>
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<img src="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/files/fullsize/2776e8cdb91fc8bf87abcdf666b2fc5e.jpg" alt="Spokane Garry&#039;s Gravesite" /><br/><p>Chief Spokane Garry was a member of the Spokan Indians, a tribe that had lived along the Spokane River for centuries. The Spokan people are believed to be of the original hunter-gatherers that settled the region, descendants of tribes from the Great Plains.</p><p>In 1810, the North West Company sent fur trappers to establish a small trading post. Missionaries, settlers, and miners followed, cutting a path of disease, displacement, and cultural change for the Indians. Smallpox and measles ravaged the tribes in multiple outbreaks in the early and middle 19th century.</p><p>The Washington Territory was established in 1853. After a failed treaty effort with the Spokans, Colonel George Wright was sent with 700 men to contain the tribe, and in an 1858 battle at Four Lakes, the native alliance was defeated and the Indians subjugated to white authority.</p><p>Chief Garry, whose Spokan name was Slough-Keetcha, was born in 1811 and sent at age 14 to one of the first Indian boarding schools in southern Manitoba. His name, like the name of other Indian children taken into the white system, was a combination of their tribal name and the last name of a prominent Hudson's Bay Company officer. On his return, Chief Garry instructed area Indians in Protestant ways, taught farming, and acted as interpreter between white settlers and natives. Chief Garry survived the Indian wars of the 1850s, the dislocations of the 1860s and later, and quietly farmed until his death in January, 1892, dying of "congestion of the lungs" in his teepee in Indian Canyon.</p><p>Slough Keetcha was originally buried in the untended portion of the cemetery, and the city paid for burial costs. In 1925, this memorial was erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution. Today the name of Spokane Garry appears on city parks, various memorials, and a middle school.</p><p><em><strong><a href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/31">For more (including 4 images, 1 audio file,&#32;&amp;&#32;1 video) view the original article</a></strong></em></p>]]></summary>
    <published>2011-05-25T14:32:38+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/31"/>
    <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/31</id>
    <author>
      <name>Anne Coogan-Gehr</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[Enloe Mausoleum, Greenwood Cemetery ]]></title>
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<img src="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/files/fullsize/454e9a9ae3837ec7ac742d813af753cc.jpg" alt="Enloe Mausoleum" /><br/><p>In March of 1896, Eugene Enloe was accused of foul play in the connection with the death of one Hugh Gillighan, who died at Medical Lake with no will, no relatives, and over $12,000 of assets. A letter sent to the Spokesman-Review protested the appointment of Eugene Enloe as adminstrator for the dead man, accusing Enloe of having burned the dead man's papers and alleging that the deceased had an outstanding note against Enloe for $2,000.</p><p>The letter, an apparent forgery, was written in a scrawling hand and the 23 signatures attached had evidently been written by a single person. One name, that of Dr. J. M. Semple, superintendent of the Medical Lake asylum, was immediately discounted by Semple in this reply, "I thank you for sending the communication purporting to be a petition to the court concerning Mr. Eugene Enloe. The writer had no authority to use my name, and I presume many, if not all, of the other sugnatures are forgeries. Mr. Enloe has evidently incurrred the spite of some one who is blind to the danger of attaching the names of others, without their knowledge or consent, to libelous article of that kind."</p><p>Eugene Enloe lived most of his life in Medical Lake, a little town hoping for the boom. Starting as a baker, branching into merchantile, then capitalizing in electricity, real estate, railroads, and cement, Enloe invested his money well. In 1926, Enloe purchased the Patrick Clark residence in Browne's addition. Enloe died in 1945, having lived long enough to witness two world wars and make a fortune.</p><p><em><strong><a href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/32">For more (including 4 images&#32;&amp;&#32;1 video) view the original article</a></strong></em></p>]]></summary>
    <published>2011-05-25T20:05:10+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/32"/>
    <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/32</id>
    <author>
      <name>Anne Coogan-Gehr</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[The Spokane Casket Company]]></title>
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<img src="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/files/fullsize/7e06591d5d9e68bf8db639bf5a2f401c.jpg" alt="[Untitled]" /><br/><p>Established in 1896, The Spokane Casket Company was one of the largest and longest surviving of Peaceful Valley businesses. Stephen Smith founded the company (originally on Post Street and called Spokane Coffin Factory) along with the Smith Funeral Home, and the two became synonymous with the business of death in Spokane. Peaceful Valley, secluded and seldom visited in those days, was an ideal location for the company. Although it was a behind the scenes player, the casket company, which employed thirty people less than two decades after its founding, was not only "inseparably linked... with the prosperity of Spokane," but was socially and economically important in the larger context of eastern Washington. </p><p>The boom lasted through the 1960s, but the Spokane Casket Company's business declined after that, and it finally closed its doors in 1999.  In early 2001, after over a century of continuous operation that made it a fixture in Peaceful Valley, the remaining structures of the Spokane Casket Company were demolished.</p><p><em><strong><a href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/37">For more (including 5 images&#32;&amp;&#32;1 audio file) view the original article</a></strong></em></p>]]></summary>
    <published>2011-05-31T02:40:24+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/37"/>
    <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/37</id>
    <author>
      <name>Nikolai Cherny</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[Gold Fever]]></title>
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<img src="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/files/fullsize/e5d034d037f41b6bab6b607d9016317d.jpg" alt="Gold pans" /><br/><p>In the midst of the Great Depression, the Spokane Chamber of Commerce declared that the gold rush was on in Spokane Washington.  Captain J. Richard Brown, who was a mining engineer, gave 9 speeches at the relief kitchen on Trent avenue in hopes of luring unemployed men and women to the mining school. The school was scheduled to open on June 9th, 1932.  There was no cost to attend the school, but after the school was complete the prospectors would have to pay their own way.</p><p>On the 10th of June the Spokane Daily Chronicle reported that there was 2000 men and women who attended the school.  Lectures were held at the Civics buildings and hands on training took place in Peaceful Valley on the riverbank.  Instructors showed the students how to pan for gold and operate mining equipment.  </p><p>The purpose of the mining school was to train unemployed men and women to go out into the hillsides of Montana, Idaho, Washington and British Columbia to pan for gold.  A craze swept over the area as a result of the mining school.  Mining suppliers quickly sold out of pans as a result.  Gold fever had struck the citizens of Spokane.  Thousands of men and women set out in hopes of finding gold. Despite their enthusiasm, there was little gold to be found.   </p><p><em><strong><a href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/39">For more (including 5 images&#32;&amp;&#32;1 audio file) view the original article</a></strong></em></p>]]></summary>
    <published>2011-05-31T04:47:34+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/39"/>
    <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/39</id>
    <author>
      <name>Danielle Mujica</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[The Pietsch House]]></title>
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<img src="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/files/fullsize/2419d3bae6e3cc38f598b4f13ba24e7b.jpg" alt="[Untitled]" /><br/><p>the Pietsch house, built in 1891 by Franz Pietsch, a German bricklayer, has been one of Peaceful Valley's most adored and unique houses. The house features a unique Italian bricklaying method uncommon in Spokane during the early 1900s, and is the oldest single-family residence in Peaceful Valley. </p><p>Franz Pietsch lived in the home until his death in 1913, after which various members of the Pietsch family occupied it until 1929.  From 1929 until 1960 the house sat vacant and deteriorated badly.  By 1997, after over three decades of fighting in Probate court, the Pietsch was added to the historic register and became the object of restoration efforts.  By Mothers' Day, 2003, new owners had revived the old house and were holding tours. </p><p>The Pietsch House demonstrates that Peaceful Valley was home to talented individuals who left their creative mark both on this neighborhood and on Spokane as a whole.</p><p><em><strong><a href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/41">For more (including 5 images&#32;&amp;&#32;1 audio file) view the original article</a></strong></em></p>]]></summary>
    <published>2011-06-01T04:53:05+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/41"/>
    <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/41</id>
    <author>
      <name>Nikolai Cherny</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[James Durkin]]></title>
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<img src="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/files/fullsize/fc3c501416c9432172496ae883c3a9bc.jpg" alt="Durkin Headstone" /><br/><p>On the lower level of Greenwood Cemetery, near the Spanish American cannon, James "Jimmie" Durkin lays buried under a block of granite.  Durkin arrived in Spokane in 1897, 38 years old, with a pile of money and big plans.  Spokane was booming and thirsty, and Durkin, fresh from an earlier liquor venture in Colville, was ready to compete. Competing with over 120 liquor establishments already set up in town, Durkin spent $21,500 on a major downtown corner lot at the intersection of Sprague and Wall, mounted huge window displays on his building, and become Spokane's liquor tycoon.</p><p>Jimmie Durken's right hand man, the enforcer known as The Colonel, simultaneously managed both the employees and the sometimes unruly drinking crowd.  The dignified, white haired gentleman kept unruly language and behavior under control, and drunks were ejected from the premises before creating problems. The bartenders were professional and forbidden to drink while on duty.  Durkin advertised only the finest liquors, serving to his clientele in the bar and retailing from the store. Known as the "working man's club," Durkin's was able to offer drinks that were better priced than the competition and in an establishment that was reasonably orderly and reputable.</p><p>In mid-December, 1915, with Washington State's prohibition only weeks away, Durkin Liquor Company ran an ad in the Spokane Daily Chronicle. "Durkin's Slaughter of Prices. Starts Monday." A case of Gordon's gin was selling for $13, West Virginia Apple Brandy for $2 a gallon, and a keg of twenty year old Old Crow Bourbon for $27. On December 31, the eve of prohibition, the paper ran an article on the famous Jimmie Durkin and the closing of his business. "Jimmie Durkin, Philosopher and Saloon Man, Quits with Million." Jimmie Durkin died of arteriosclerosis at the age of 75 on July 10, 1934, at Sacred Heart hospital, his wife and four children at his bedside.</p><p><em><strong><a href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/42">For more (including 4 images&#32;&amp;&#32;1 audio file) view the original article</a></strong></em></p>]]></summary>
    <published>2011-06-01T12:09:49+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/42"/>
    <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/42</id>
    <author>
      <name>Anne Coogan-Gehr</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[Bernhardt Schade]]></title>
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<img src="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/files/fullsize/fb00b648e073bf7372d05a21be5b8715.jpg" alt="Schade Headstone" /><br/><p>On the second terrace of Greenwood, Bernhardt Schade, a German immigrant, is buried at the family plot.</p><p>Schade arrived in Spokane in the late nineteenth century with his Austrian Bohemian wife, Zofia, and was prominent in Spokane's early and vibrant brewing history. Serving for a decade as the brew master at Spokane's New York Brewery, Schade started his own brewery in 1903.</p><p>Schade hired the noted Spokane architect Lewis Stritesky to design a facility based on a European brewery. Initial production at the brewery was 35,000 to 40,000 barrels per year. In 1916, four years before national prohibition, Washington State passed a law prohibiting manufacture or sale of alcohol.  Schade Brewery diversified by making near beer, a beer with an alcohol content of 0.5 percent. Schade Brewery survived prohibition only briefly until Bernhardt Schade fell ill in 1918 and the plant was idled.</p><p>On February 17, 1921, after a long illness after suffering a stroke, Bernhardt Schade shot himself at his home on East 909 Boone Avenue, survived by his wife and six children.</p><p><em><strong><a href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/43">For more (including 4 images&#32;&amp;&#32;1 video) view the original article</a></strong></em></p>]]></summary>
    <published>2011-06-01T12:11:47+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/43"/>
    <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/43</id>
    <author>
      <name>Anne Coogan-Gehr</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[Recreation Center]]></title>
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<img src="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/files/fullsize/7919ce31211dfab60bd6c78a5b0071f4.jpg" alt="Dance at the Recreation Center" /><br/><p>On November 22, 1949 a barrack was purchased from Geiger Field for a new recreation center in Peaceful Valley. While in transit, the building slid onto the pavement at First and Monroe in downtown Spokane. The equipment had collapsed under the weight of the structure and the movers were forced to leave it on the pavement overnight. The next morning the building continued its journey to Peaceful Valley. </p><p>The narrow entrance into Peaceful Valley caused more problems for the movers. At one point the building was hanging over the embankment and tension was high. The movers finally overcame the obstacle and the new recreation center arrived at its new home otherwise unharmed. </p><p>The center was funded by the Junior League of Spokane. Their dream was to give the children of Peaceful Valley a safe place to play and learn.The much anticipated recreation center was open to the public on June 9th, 1950. Activities including arts and crafts and outdoor games were offered to the residents of the Valley. The center became a common ground in Peaceful Valley. Meetings and potluck dinners helped knit the community together. In this center the citizens of the Valley had a voice and could discuss concerns and issues.</p><p>Today, the recreation center is still a thriving part of the Peaceful Valley community. The center is now call the Lower Falls Community Center. Outreach programs are offered to many people from all walks of life. There is a children's program that is free of charge and offers after school activities including structured study time, crafts and outings. The center also operates a food bank on Friday mornings called Enough to Eat, and a free clothing program.</p><p><em><strong><a href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/44">For more (including 5 images&#32;&amp;&#32;1 audio file) view the original article</a></strong></em></p>]]></summary>
    <published>2011-06-01T19:52:18+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/44"/>
    <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/44</id>
    <author>
      <name>Danielle Mujica</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[Glover Field]]></title>
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<img src="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/files/fullsize/bcbd5e0af17d52f9e3169eae1f78e619.jpg" alt="Events at Glover Field" /><br/><p>The city of Spokane purchased land in Peaceful Valley to build an athletic stadium in 1912. The Stadium boasted a six-lane running track and bleachers that could hold 10,000 spectators. The Stadium was used by local high schools for track meets and football games. It was also housed fairs, shows and carnivals. </p><p>On October 31, 1917 the field was renamed and dedicated to James N. Glover, a founding father of the city of Spokane. A granite monument was dedicated that day and still stands in front of the Community Center. </p><p>In 1925 the bleachers were condemned. In 1937 the bleachers were dismantled because they had fallen into disrepair. The high schools purchased their own stadiums and no longer had use for Glover Field.</p><p>Today the field is mainly used by the Community Center for outdoor activities.</p><p><em><strong><a href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/46">For more (including 10 images&#32;&amp;&#32;3 audio files) view the original article</a></strong></em></p>]]></summary>
    <published>2011-06-01T19:58:33+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/46"/>
    <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/46</id>
    <author>
      <name>Danielle Mujica</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[Mirror Pond: Manito Park Tour <br />
Spokane Park Highlights Tour]]></title>
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<img src="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/files/fullsize/3ab0c06f0d4a745e9218eb89e556df2a.jpg" alt="Winter Sport on Manito Lake circa 1910?" /><br/><p>The lake before you originally stretched from Division to Grand.  First named Mirror Lake, this shallow water feature (between two and five feet deep depending on the season), has been known over the years as Manito Pond, Mirror Pond, and the Duck Pond.  In the past, Mirror Pond was more than just an attractive piece of landscape.  At the corner of 18th and Division there used to be a canoe rental.  There was a dance hall across the lake on the opposite shore.  People enjoyed ice skating and hockey in the winter on this lake.  </p><p>In an advertisement booklet enticing people to move and buy property in this area, the Spokane Washington Improvement Company boasted "Winter Sport on Manito Lake - Healthy Invigorating exercise and perfectly safe as the lake is but two and one half feet deep," with a photograph of ice skaters on the lake.  </p><p>So, where does the name Manito come from?  Manitou is an Algonquian word meaning "great spirit" and may be spelled Manitou or Manito.  The Algonquian religion tells of a supernatural power that permeates the earth, and is manifest in everything around us.  Most famously it appears in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's narrative poem, "Hiawatha," in the section called "The Song of Hiawatha."  Longfellow writes, </p><p>On the Mountains of the Prairie,</p><p>On the great Red Pipe-stone Quarry,</p><p>Gitche Manito, the mighty,</p><p>He the Master of Life, descending,</p><p>The poem goes on to relate that Gitche Manito, the Great Uniter, called together all of the Native American tribes to one place.</p><p><em><strong><a href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/47">For more (including 6 images&#32;&amp;&#32;2 audio files) view the original article</a></strong></em></p>]]></summary>
    <published>2011-06-01T20:23:35+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/47"/>
    <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/47</id>
    <author>
      <name>Tracy L. Rebstock</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[Picnic Shelter: Manito Park Tour]]></title>
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<img src="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/files/fullsize/88410b42dcba8a13b703136df5138a53.jpg" alt="Manito Park Shelter in 1960" /><br/><p>The Downtown Spokane Rotary Club constructed this cooking shelter in November 1960 at a cost of about $16,000.  Dessigned by Henry Bertelsen, Eddy Carlson, and James Architects, It enclosed 2000 square feet, provided table space for 100, and was built with five range units and a double sink.  Families, businesses, community organizations and churches all hold special events here.  </p><p>Picnics have always been a popular part of Manito Park, espcially near the playgrounds and on the hillside near the 18th street entrance.  People from all walks of life would spend time in the park with a picnic and their kids.  A streetcar would bring them to 10th street and they would walk the rest of the way to Manito, but as the city grew and lines expanded, a streetcar would drop picnickers off just outside the park.  So popular was this activity that Charles A. Libby, famous Spokane photographer, took photographs of people picnicking in the park to help advertise the Davenport as a place to purchase a picnic lunch, and promotional literature featured Picnicking to  promote the Manito Park Addition as a place to move your family.  </p><p>According to an ad in the Spokane Daily Chronicle, the presence of the park inflated property values, which limited the type of people who could afford to live around the park.  It did not, however, limit the people who could visit the park.  The land in front of the picnic shelter would be covered by water during different times of the year until the park installed a drainage system.  If you walk up the stairs behind the shelter, take the path to your left and face east, you are looking at the sledding hill.  Kids of all ages from the 1900s to present have enjoyed sledding that hill in the winter.</p><p><em><strong><a href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/48">For more (including 5 images&#32;&amp;&#32;1 audio file) view the original article</a></strong></em></p>]]></summary>
    <published>2011-06-01T21:05:42+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/48"/>
    <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/48</id>
    <author>
      <name>Tracy L. Rebstock</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[Pillars of Hercules]]></title>
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<img src="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/files/fullsize/f15c51554345cf6a0eec4cc4c6c3f757.jpg" alt="Pillars of Hercules (Street View)" /><br/><p>The impressive Herculean Pillars standing before you mark the formal entrance to Eastern Washington University. Built in 1915, the pillars were constructed out of salvaged granite from the administration hall which burned down in 1912, and was replaced by Showalter Hall. Built as a symbol of hope and renewal, these pillars have greeted thousands of students as they made their way up to campus from the train depot in downtown Cheney. </p><p>Marking the entrance of the university where College Avenue meets 5th Street, the Pillars of Hercules were the first thing a student would see upon reaching campus. Having walked uphill from downtown Cheney, students would be greeted by faculty and staff members on the walkway from the pillars to the college. This tradition garnered the pathway the name, "hello walk." </p><p>As more students arrived by car than train, the pillars became one of several entrances to the university. Although the university has grown and the access to campus has changed, the pillars remain as an important symbol for the school and its students. </p><p><em><strong><a href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/49">For more (including 4 images) view the original article</a></strong></em></p>]]></summary>
    <published>2011-06-01T21:47:16+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/49"/>
    <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/49</id>
    <author>
      <name>Spokane Historical</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[Monroe Hall]]></title>
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<img src="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/files/fullsize/5cf815e8dd598d2f1e1ff1d6b8356667.jpg" alt="Monroe Hall pre-renovation" /><br/><p>By the middle of the nineteenth century the Cheney State Normal School continued to expand in spite of the disastrous fire. Only a year after Showalter Hall was built it was apparent that the increasing prominence of the Normal School and the town of Cheney required a dormitory. The building you are now facing is that dorm.  </p><p>Called Monroe Hall this is the second oldest building erected on campus. It was completed in the fall of 1916 less than a year after Showalter Hall was completed. In its original form Monroe Hall was designed to hold 90 women and included a social lounge and a large dining room with a kitchen. Monroe Hall continued to be used as a dorm until is was turned into office facilities in 1968. A prominent addition to the exterior of the building was added as part of a renovation in 2000. The dorm was a much needed audition as the Cheney State Normal School was entering a new era of growth and development that would not be interrupted by fire.  </p><p>Monroe Hall also represented the first time that a prominent faculty members had a building dedicated to them (Showalter Hall would not receive its name until 1940). Benjamin P. Cheney had the original academy named after him but he was a distant benefactor having only made two high profile appearances in the City of Cheney. Showalter Hall was named after Noah David Showalter who was installed as the ninth president of the Cheney State Normal School in 1911 and whose tenure lasted until 1926. Monroe Hall was named after Mary A. Monroe who came to the college in 1913 as a member of the board of trustees, the first woman to serve on the board. </p><p><em><strong><a href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/50">For more (including 7 images&#32;&amp;&#32;2 audio files) view the original article</a></strong></em></p>]]></summary>
    <published>2011-06-01T22:02:47+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/50"/>
    <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/50</id>
    <author>
      <name>John Moudy</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[Senior Hall]]></title>
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<img src="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/files/fullsize/822ecce8cceacada29d95b13b36639d6.jpg" alt="Senior Hall 1930" /><br/><p>The building you are now facing is called Senior Hall. Unlike most of Eastern's facilities, Senior Hall is not named after any particular person.  In its original design Senior Hall was very similar to Monroe Hall. Rapid growth of both the college and the surrounding community almost outpaced planners. Only a few years after completing the college's first dormitory, the Normal School soon found itself in need of another women's dorm.  Construction of Senior Hall began in 1919 to meet this need, and the building was mostly completed the following year, although financial problems held up work on the third floor until 1925. </p><p>Senior Hall continued to be used as a dorm until the 1970s when it was repurposed to house Vietnam Veterans.  After only a few years, Senior Hall was declared unfit for student housing due to old wiring, outdated fire safety measures, and an inability to keep up with modern building codes.  In 2006 it received an extensive renovation largely focused on  updating the interior.</p><p>There were male students at the Normal School from the beginning, but women were in the majority. Teaching was a unique field in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in that it was considered acceptable for women when other opportunities were limited. Although hardly uncommon today, this stood in stark contrast to many other professions at the time. </p><p>One of the enduring urban legends of EWU is the haunting of Senior Hall. People reported hearing creaks and groans in the hallways and rooms, especially at night. However, there is no evidence of deaths during construction or suicides by residents in the building's history, or indeed any kind of suspicious activity. Modern belief is that the sounds were simply those of an old building cooling down, which triggered overactive imaginations, particularly among overworked graduate students.</p><p><em><strong><a href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/51">For more (including 7 images&#32;&amp;&#32;3 audio files) view the original article</a></strong></em></p>]]></summary>
    <published>2011-06-01T22:20:54+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/51"/>
    <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/51</id>
    <author>
      <name>John Moudy&amp;#32;&amp;amp;&amp;#32;Thomas Hunter</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[Park Bench Cafe: Manito Park Tour]]></title>
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<img src="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/files/fullsize/3236782419fd0d873f8f3c939d0988c1.jpg" alt="Postcard - 2799 - Manito Park, Spokane, Washington" /><br/><p>The Park Bench Cafe marks the boundary between the zoo and the rest of the park at the corner of Tekoa and Manito.  The zoo was part of Manito Park from 1905 to 1932. </p><p>The area were the cafe now stands was covered with water, a pond for the ducks and swan and included a little hut in the center.</p><p>Across the street from the Cafe is the George Washington Memorial.  Using this as a point of reference, look left and see the hill where the old bandstand used to be.  If you look closely you can see an old pole that looks like a dead tree that was the light pole in front of the bandstand.  In 1916 it was requested that the cost of providing band concerts in the playgrounds and parks in Spokane be part of the park budget and this was approved in 1918.  </p><p>In 1923 the pond was filled in and the cafe was built. Currently the Park Bench Cafe opens between Memorial Day and Labor Day. </p><p><em><strong><a href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/52">For more (including 2 images&#32;&amp;&#32;1 audio file) view the original article</a></strong></em></p>]]></summary>
    <published>2011-06-01T22:41:21+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/52"/>
    <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/52</id>
    <author>
      <name>Tracy L. Rebstock</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[Boarding School Days: Fort Spokane Tour]]></title>
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<img src="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/files/fullsize/0992966fee2bc6c8f47fdf800bc5cb56.jpg" alt="Lessons" /><br/><p>What you see in front of you is where the barracks would have stood. While the ground floor was used to contain the kitchen, mess hall, wash room, library and non-commissioned officer's rooms, the upper floor was devoted to the enlisted men's sleeping quarters. </p><p>In 1898 with the beginning of the Spanish-American War and the "Indian problem" well in hand;, the majority of troops stationed at Fort Spokane were dispatched to help deal with the international crisis. Only a small number of men stayed at Fort Spokane for the next year and by April of 1899 all supplies had been moved. </p><p>Upon its abandonment from military personnel the Fort was taken over by the Colville Indian Agency, headed by Major A. M. Anderson who saw it as the perfect place for an Indian Boarding School. The Fort had ample space to accommodate personnel and students, superb water and sewage systems and sufficient grounds to teach agriculture and industry to the students. The Boarding School opened its doors on April 2, 1900 and at one point housed up to 229 students. </p><p>The idea behind Indian Boarding Schools was that the children would benefit from learning skills that would help them integrate into the white population. It was the general consensus among the white government agencies, at the time that this was far superior to the education that they would have received at home. As Capt. Richard H. Pratt said on the education of Native Americans, the cruel philosophy was, "Kill the Indian, and Save the Man."</p><p>In 1909 John M. Webster converted the Boarding School to a Sanitarium for tuberculosis patients because of the low attendance rate. This was caused by the establishment of several day schools from 1906-1908 that allowed the majority of parents to keep their children at home. </p><p><em><strong><a href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/53">For more (including 6 images&#32;&amp;&#32;1 audio file) view the original article</a></strong></em></p>]]></summary>
    <published>2011-06-01T22:51:07+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/53"/>
    <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/53</id>
    <author>
      <name>Ryanna Thurman</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[Sutton Hall]]></title>
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<img src="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/files/fullsize/546f5cccd11feeb31bbc3738b0090667.jpg" alt="Sutton Hall today" /><br/><p>By the 1922-1923 school year the Cheney State Normal School had undoubtedly achieved success as a teachers training college. At the end of that year the school graduated 1,764 students with teaching degrees. With this growth came a possibly risky introduction into the campus life of the Normal School introduced by Sutton Hall in 1923. </p><p>Men </p><p>Although a certain number of men had always been enrolled in the predominantly female Normal School, Sutton Hall was the first male dormitory. It was built from 1922 to 1923 and opened in 1923. Sutton Hall is named after William J. Sutton who served as the president of the Cheney State Normal School from 1892 to 1897 and was later elected as a State Senator. In both jobs he was a constant advocate for the Normal School. Sutton Hall's use as a dorm was discontinued around the same time as Monroe and Senior hall. In 1996 a renovation to house student service functions completely changed the interior of the building. </p><p>For Their Own Good </p><p>In stark contrast to today student behavior was regulated just as much as academic study. In a policy consistent with many other colleges at the time. During the 1913 to 1914 school year their was a list of rules known as services rendered and policies to be obeyed that gave faculty members sole jurisdiction over any and all social functions. The policies were revised for the 1916-1917 school year which specified that there was to be a chaperon at parties, picnics, or any other social function. Although not explicitly stated one of the primary purposes of these strict codes was to keep the young men and women away from each other. </p><p><em><strong><a href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/59">For more (including 6 images&#32;&amp;&#32;2 audio files) view the original article</a></strong></em></p>]]></summary>
    <published>2011-06-05T21:31:34+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/59"/>
    <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/59</id>
    <author>
      <name>John Moudy</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[Jore School]]></title>
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<img src="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/files/fullsize/91bdb9ed015acd4e54ff443bc610c368.jpg" alt="Cheney Normal School Heritage Center today" /><br/><p>Unlike the rest of the campus buildings the schoolhouse you see before you was never intended to be part of a college campus. Instead this building was created to teach the children of another community a few hours north of here. </p><p>Built in 1905 this one room schoolhouse is the oldest building on campus (although not erected on campus). It served the children of the community of Jore, another pioneering community that unlike Cheney is no longer in existence. The site of this community lies about five miles west of Newport, Washington (about an hour and a half north of here) and the Jore School was in use for 24 years before it was abandoned in 1924.  </p><p>After being abandoned for nearly a century the abandoned schoolhouse was rediscovered by a college faculty member (Professor Miller) in 2000. Professor Miller decided to bring the school to Eastern Washington University and the schoolhouse was prepared for transport. The roof was disassembled and the foundation was replaced by wheels. Once the school house was reassembled and restored it was renamed the Cheney Normal School Heritage Center and stands today as a tribute to the colleges history of training teachers for the rural schools of Eastern Washington.  </p><p><em><strong><a href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/60">For more (including 8 images&#32;&amp;&#32;1 audio file) view the original article</a></strong></em></p>]]></summary>
    <published>2011-06-05T23:31:12+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/60"/>
    <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/60</id>
    <author>
      <name>John Moudy</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[JFK Library]]></title>
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<img src="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/files/fullsize/88dff270202a5baa4e1c37f414ea9316.jpg" alt="JFK Library Exterior pre-1998 renovation" /><br/><p>The next couple of decades after World War II were arguably the most rapid period of growth this institution has ever seen. As part of this expansion certain facilities that had previous been in a shared building needed their own buildings. The John F. Kennedy Library before you is one such example. </p><p>The Bigger the College, the Bigger the Library </p><p>The first library was located in the original administration building and unfortunately it also burn down with the original administration building. A new library was set up in Showalter Hall and remained the college library until 1940. By that year the amount of books and other materials collected by the college library had become to big to simply be housed in one room in Showalter Hall and a purpose built facility was set up inside Hargreaves Hall. 25 years later Hargreaves Hall had become inadequate to hold an even bigger collection and the JFK Library before you was finished in 1967. The JFK Library itself was given an extensive renovation and expansion from 1995 to 1998 to increase capacity.   </p><p>Not Just for School Teachers  </p><p>Shortly after the renaming of the college new programs were added that were designed for preparing students for other careers besides teaching. This began with secretarial classes in 1939, and quickly expended into other programs. By 1961 the college had firmly shifted toward a liberal arts focus and away from being strictly a teachers college. To reflect this change the name of the college was changed again from the Eastern Washington College of Education to Eastern Washington State College.  </p><p><em><strong><a href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/62">For more (including 9 images&#32;&amp;&#32;1 audio file) view the original article</a></strong></em></p>]]></summary>
    <published>2011-06-06T00:21:17+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/62"/>
    <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/62</id>
    <author>
      <name>John Moudy</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[Patterson Hall]]></title>
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<img src="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/files/fullsize/e9bb7aaa0906ac954ef7a6315e601fc6.jpg" alt="Patterson Hall 1973" /><br/><p>In what could be called the latest chapter in the history of the college, Eastern Washington State College was awarded university status because of its expanding programs and became Eastern Washington University in 1977. In recent years the college is once again undergoing a period of expansion that can be seen right here.  </p><p>The steel frame before you is part of Patterson Hall. Patterson Hall was built in two phases, the first in 1970 and the second in 1971. At the time of its completion is was one of the largest facilities on campus and provided much needed classroom and academic department space for the ever expanding college. However like many other campus buildings in the last 20 years it has found itself outpaced by Eastern's growth. Except for a downturn in student enrollment in the late 1990's Eastern Washington University's expansion has been continuous since the end of World War II.     </p><p>In light of the need for increased student capacity (and modern facilities) the decision was made in 2009 to strip Patterson of everything but its steel frame and a portion of the back wall; and create an almost entirely new building. The new facility was completed in 2014 and is expected to meet the needs of a college that has seen another noticeable increase in student enrollment in the last fifteen years. </p><p><em><strong><a href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/64">For more (including 6 images&#32;&amp;&#32;1 audio file) view the original article</a></strong></em></p>]]></summary>
    <published>2011-06-06T01:27:57+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/64"/>
    <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/64</id>
    <author>
      <name>John Moudy</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[Rose Hill: Manito Park Tour]]></title>
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<img src="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/files/fullsize/33c840890b681ea6d5e6ab1825023c5a.jpg" alt="The Rose Garden" /><br/><p>When Francis Cook bought the land that would become Manito Park, he named it Montrose Park for its incredible selection of wild roses.  Before Rose Hill was created, the area you are looking at was a spring fed pond where the elk and deer lived during the zoo years from 1905 to 1932.</p><p>As a prank, kids would take goldfish from the pond and put them in the fountain in the Sunken Gardens, now known as the Duncan Gardens.  Speaking of Duncan, John W. Duncan designed the first plans for a rose garden in 1941, which included both roses that were native to the area and hybrids.  In 1948, the Rose Society proposed a different type of rose garden that would include a test garden and memorial roses.  Work began in June 1950 with grading, soil preparation, and a sprinkler system.  </p><p>In 1951, the American Rose Society chose Spokane to be one of 90 test gardens in the United States.  Families, in memory of their loved ones donate memorial roses to the Park.  This Rose Garden has one several awards.</p><p>The Dahlia Society trial garden shares space on Rose Hill near the old-fashioned rose garden on the west side of the hill.  This trial garden is one of only 8 such gardens in the United States and Canada.</p><p><em><strong><a href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/65">For more (including 7 images&#32;&amp;&#32;1 audio file) view the original article</a></strong></em></p>]]></summary>
    <published>2011-06-06T01:30:28+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/65"/>
    <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/65</id>
    <author>
      <name>Tracy L. Rebstock</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[Gaiser Conservatory: Manito Park Tour ]]></title>
    <summary type="html"><![CDATA[<img src="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/files/fullsize/855dc6518d2a08d872268ca7f8e16bb5.jpg" alt="Greenhouse ca. 1930?" /><br/><p>The original greenhouse was on the corner of 18th and Grand until 1912, when it was relocated to its current location.  It was renovated in 1974 in anticipation of the World Expo, and the central dome was added in 1988.  The greenhouse served many purposes in the early days of the park with its most important function growing seedlings and storing plants and tools for the park.  During the long Spokane winters the greenhouse was heated with coal.  </p><p>Once the City of Spokane acquired Manito Park in 1904, everyone wanted to give his or her opinion on what should be planted and how the park should look. A letter was given to the acting park board suggesting a reward be given to the landscaper who came up with the most reasonable plan for the land at Manito. Though this never happened, it did prompt the hiring of the Olmsted brothers, world famous landscape architects, who contrary to popular belief did not design the park, but just gave recommendations.</p><p>Prior to 1974 the greenhouse was off limits to visitors of the park except during special occasions like Christmas and Easter.  During the 1974 World Expo people were allowed inside the greenhouse for the first time to view special floral displays.  Currently the Conservatory acts as both a small indoor botanical garden and as a greenhouse for the park.  Visitors may enjoy the conservatory during all seasons with a rotating display of succulents, desert plants, orchids, and flowers.</p><p><em><strong><a href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/66">For more (including 4 images&#32;&amp;&#32;1 audio file) view the original article</a></strong></em></p>]]></summary>
    <published>2011-06-06T02:08:20+00:00</published>
    <updated>2026-02-12T21:42:31+00:00</updated>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/66"/>
    <id>https://mail.spokanehistorical.org/items/show/66</id>
    <author>
      <name>Tracy L. Rebstock</name>
    </author>
  </entry>
</feed>
