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Theodore Roosevelt on the Parade Grounds: Fort George Wright Tour
You are standing where Teddy Roosevelt stood on April 8th 1911, reviewing the 500 heroic African-American troops of the 25th Infantry as they passed in review. The 25th Infantry had served with…
Welcome to Historic Fort George Wright: Fort George Wright Tour
By the end of the 19th century, after generations of hard frontier living and occasionally violent interactions with the native population, the United States had firmly established itself in the…
Barracks and Buffaloes: Fort George Wright Tour
The 24th Infantry regiment contained the famous all-black "Buffalo Soldiers" who had fought bravely in the capture of San Juan Hill during the Spanish American War. The regiment had endured many…
Frontier Justice at Fort George Wright: Fort George Wright Tour
It was the night of August 14th 1916 and Edward F. Mayberry was on the run. Three witnesses had seen Mayberry murder 35 year old Native American woman Alice Vivian on the Colville Reservation near…
Fort George Wright Cemetery: Fort George Wright Tour
When Fort George Wright was constructed in the 1890s, effort was made to ensure a proper final resting place could be afforded the men who died there while serving in the military. A peaceful spot was…
WWII Convalescent Hospital
Training for combat at Fort George Wright gave way to recovery and recuperation during the Second World War. In 1941, Fort Wright had changed hands and become part of the United States Army Air…
Who Was George Wright?: Fort George Wright Tour
The Fort George Wright monument tells the story of the fort from its creation in 1895 to its acquisition by the Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute in 1990. The Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute has started…
Totem Pole: Fort George Wright Tour - Story 6
Col. George Wright would be shocked to find a symbol of the continued survival of the Native American cultural tradition at the military base that bore his name. Yet the Fort Wright Totem Pole stands…
Washington Street Bridge
In 1908, the Washington Street Bridge was constructed over the Spokane River, to provide an avenue for the rapidly growing city's population. The 242 feet bridge was constructed by the Wallace-Coates…
Spokane Parental School
[Private Residence]
Built not to imprison or punish, but to educate, the Spokane Parental School was an innovation in education and corrections. In 1907, the city board of education authorized the…
St. Joseph's Catholic Church and Convent
St. Joseph's Catholic Church and Covent is a landmark of religious history in Spokane. Finished in 1901, the Church was a marvel of Late Gothic Revival architecture. It is build on the grounds that…
The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist
In the 1920s, Episcopal Bishop Edward Makin Cross endeavored to create a successor to the All Saints Cathedral, which stood Downtown. He contracted the services of congregation member Harold C.…
The United States Pavilion: Expo '74 and Riverfront Park Tour - Stop 11
In 1974, Spokane became the smallest city to ever host a World's Fair. The community used the opportunity to re-vitalize the depressed downtown district. The Great Northern Railroad Depot, which had…
The Parsons Hotel: The historic Parsons Hotel has known good times and bad, mirroring the rest of downtown Spokane
Located on the southwest corner of Jefferson and First Avenue, the Parsons Hotel opened in 1910 as a family-oriented hotel with 104 rooms. It was built in 1909 by W. E. Parsons, a railroad man and…
Fast Times at the Hotel Emery: Brawls, thefts, scams, and scandals filled the brief life of this downtown hotel.
One of the early hostelries for visitors to Spokane Falls was the Hotel Emery, a two-story brick building on Riverside between Washington and Bernard that opened in 1892. The building's first owner is…
Monkey Business at the Sillman Hotel
The Davenport’s “Matador Room” did not actually feature bullfighting, the Desert Hotel’s “Mirage Room” could only offer such hallucinations as alcohol provided, and the Coeur d’Alene Hotel’s “Donkey…
The Columbia Pharmacy and the Kiyohiros
For 86 years, the southwest corner of Main Avenue and Washington Street was home to one of Spokane's oldest pharmacies.
The Legendary Chinese Cemeteries of Browne's Addition: Is the first Rosauer's Supermarket really built over Chinese graves?
One popular Spokane urban legend is the tale of a Chinese cemetery buried under the Rosauer's Supermarket in Browne's Addition. This story has recently been doing the rounds on social media platforms…
Spokane's Tiger in the Ring: The story of legendary boxer Tiger Jack Fox and his manager, Al Morse.
Tiger Jack Fox "stalked his foes like a panther and he swung like lightning from half way to his knees." When he agreed to be managed by rookie promoter Al Morse, a partnership was formed that would…
James Liston: The man who made the city water flow
"When the Well’s dry, we know the Worth of Water." - Benjamin Franklin (Poor Richard's Almanac, 1746)
Trouble All Along The Line: Hillyard's Forgotten Anti-Japanese Riot
(This article contain descriptions of anti-Japanese violence. Contemporary images and references may contain slurs.)
Prologue
Before it was annexed by Spokane in 1924, Hillyard was a town in its own…
Carving a Legend: What remains of the 1977 Leonard totem pole
There were once two totem poles on this island in the river. This is the story of the one that is gone.
Spokane's "Mayor for a Day" (Who Never Was)
The little-known (and utterly fictional) tale of Spokane's "mayor for a day," Josiah Forsyth.
Traces of the Past: Mohawk "Block": Historic Buildings in Unexpected Places
Tucked away in a corner of this odd-shaped parking lot, behind the historic Frank's Diner, is a sliver of Spokane history. Actually, a large granite block of history.
At the west end of the parking…
The Rookery Building: A lost architectural gem
The destruction of the Rookery Building was a turning point in historic preservation in Spokane.
Dynamite Blast Wrecks Lyric Theatre
A midnight dynamite explosion shook the movie theater, sending slabs of marble, boards and debris flying into the street.
Cyrus O'Leary's Restaurant: A Lost Spokane Icon
A generation of Spokanites has fond memories of Cyrus O'Leary's--until the restaurant was demolished.
The City of Kettle Falls: Moving on Up
How do you move an entire town to a new location? Very carefully.
Sanitarium Incinerator: Killing Germs and Destroying Culture
In 1915 tuberculosis struck the Spokane Indians hard. Four natives died and fifty more were suspected of having the disease. In response to the outbreak, the Indian Service used the site of the former…
Buried and Forgotten: St. Paul's Mission Cemetery
Beneath the pine needles that cover this historic cemetery lie generations of native and fur trade families.