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The Cheney Northern Pacific Railway Depot
Please be aware that this structure is located on private property and access is prohibited for safety reasons.
From the 1880s to the 1930s, the Northern Pacific Railway Depot in Cheney, WA was…
The City of Kettle Falls: Moving on Up
How do you move an entire town to a new location? Very carefully.
The Civilian Conservation Corps in the Inland Northwest: "We can take it!"
From 1933 to 1942, Fort George Wright was the headquarters of the Inland Northwest Civilian Conservation Corps.
The Codger Pole
Old grudges die hard. In 1938, cross-county archrivals the Colfax Bulldogs and the St. John Eagles met in a bitterly contested football matchup. St. John emerged the victors with a score of 14 - 0,…
The Collapse of the Division Street Bridge: A Tragedy Paved the Way for Concrete Bridges
With five men dead, twelve injured, and neighborhoods cut off from gas and electricity, the collapse of the Division Street bridge in 1915 remains one of Spokane's worst disasters. In the wake of the…
The Colorful Past of Minnehaha Park
According to a long time Spokane resident, the City of Spokane had a reputation of "being a little on the wild side when it came to the proverbial wine, women, and song." By the early 19th Century,…
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 Corbin Ditch
The main challenge for farming in the Spokane Valley was supplementing the meager local rain fall with manmade irrigation systems. Gravity ditches, such as the Corbin Ditch, formed the core of early…
The Courchaine House
[Private Residence]
Greenacres was the place to be for pioneer Daniel Courchaine in 1867. Born in Quebec in the 1830s, Courchaine lived in Green Bay, Wisconsin for a time before heading west to…
The Creation of the Falls: The Indian Falls
You are now looking at the Lower Falls of the Spokane River. This site was important in both the legends and daily lives of the Spokane, the Coeur d'Alene and others in this region.
In one…
The Crescent Building
Large department stores once ruled the centers of American cities. Macy's in New York, Nordstrom in Seattle, and the Crescent in Spokane sold everything needed for daily life and often many extras. …
The Cursed City of Spokane
Long time Spokanites have a handy explanation for when things go wrong in city government- a curse
The Death of "Irish Kate"
Among the many famous and infamous residents of this section of the cemetery is Kate Barrett, better known to history as "Irish Kate."
Soon after August 4, 1889, countless sensationalized stories…
The Death of Bill Jackson: Part 2: Police Brutality or Rough Justice?
Abandoned by his white father, Bill Jackson struggled to navigate Spokane society as a mixed-race Indian in the late 19th century. Hardships and trauma pushed him towards a treacherous crime and…
The Death of Cromwell Dixon: A Daring Aviator Meets a Tragic End
Having just completed the first-ever flight over the Northern Rockies, 19-year-old Cromwell Dixon took a victory lap at the 1911 Spokane Interstate Fair. It would be his last flight.
The Demise of the Shack Dwellers
Known for decades as "Poverty Flats," Peaceful Valley has been home to many unique individuals over the years. Some of the more interesting characters are bonded by their humble residence, the shacks…
The Dishman Theater: From Ma and Pa Kettle to Pornography
Commercial buildings often live multiple lives, changing with their neighborhoods. Such is the case with the Dishman Theater.
Dishman Theater opened its doors on November 6, 1938. It was to be the…
The Enduring Mystery of F. Lewis Clark: “F. Lewis Clark, Spokane Millionaire, Missing—Suicide?”
The 1914 disappearance of F. Lewis Clark made headlines across the United States and remains shrouded in mystery.
The Evolution of Sunset Field: How the United States Military Repurposed Spokane’s Airfield
When the United States was pulled into World War Two thousands of American businesses were repurposed to better support the war effort. It was this direct response to an overseas threat that…
The First Presbyterian Church
Founded in 1883 when Washington was still a territory, the First Presbyterian Church has grown up with the City of Spokane.
Reverend Thomas G. Watson came to Spokane from Wisconsin in 1883 by…
The Fishery at Kettle Falls
Beneath the placid waters of Lake Roosevelt at this location lies what was once one of the most important native sites on the Columbia plateau - Kettle Falls. For thousands of years, Indians from as…
The Florence Crittenton House: A Home for Wayward Women
One hundred years ago, women had little access to birth control or legal ways of ending pregnancies. For unwed women, an unplanned pregnancy could lead to expulsion from the home and social disgrace.…
The Formidable May Hutton
In 1883, orphan May Arkwright moved to Idaho from Ohio where she worked as a saloon cook and opened up her own boarding house, where she quickly gained a reputation as the "best cook in the Coeur…
The Fort Spokane Boarding School: Forced Assimilation for Native American Youth
By the late 1800’s, the frontier was gone and the West was dealing with what they called the "Indian problem." One of their solutions was the Indian Boarding School.
The Fort Spokane Brewery: Beer for the Soldiers
Before the Spanish-American War, soldiers stationed at Fort Spokane relied on one man to lift their spirits; a German brewer who made the Fort his home.
The Gem Mine and the Pinkerton Detective Agency
The modern surveillance state casts a long shadow back to the center of silver extraction: the Coeur d’Alene Mining District in northern Idaho during the late nineteenth century. In 1892 Charles…
The Ghost Town of Burke
Nestled in a cramped canyon seven miles from historic Wallace, are the decaying remnants of the once-booming mining town that was built to house the miners of the Hecla, Hercules, Tiger-Poorman, and…
The Gifford Odd Fellows: The Independent Order of the Odd Fellows were not so odd.
An organization that spread across America and the world like a wildfire, The Independent Order of Odd Fellows is a fraternal organization that was the first of its kind to include women. The Odd…
The Great Fire of 1889
When the territory of Washington became a state in 1889, the city of Spokane Falls was one of its largest and most successful cities. Attracting wealthy businessmen who had stakes in the nearby Idaho…
The Hamilton Building: Hamilton Studio used to be a gymnasium for St. Joseph’s Catholic School
Beginning in the 1800s, many Catholic parents began to believe that their children were not served by a system of public education that was dominated by Protestant educators and elected officials.…