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Lantern Statue
This twenty-foot cement statue was originally titled Untitled, but was quickly renamed The Lantern due to its striking closeness to that of a Japanese lantern. A disarray of geometric cut-outs allows…
The Call and The Challenge
The sculpture in front of you is called The Call and The Challenge. It was erected by Ken Spiering in 1986 to commemorate Sacred Heart Medical Center's 100th year anniversary. The piece depicts Mother…
Shamil
This sculpture with the austere expression was dedicated on July 2, 1992. This abstract sculpture was given to Spokane by our former sister city Makhachkala. The sculpture represents Shamil, an…
The Aluminum Fountain
The symmetrical tall sculpture in front of you was created by George Tsutakawa in 1974. George Tsutakawa has created fountains all over the United States and Japan. In congruence with Mr. Tsutakawas…
Miller Block
You are looking at the Miller Block, built in 1890. Stanley Miller, a co-proprietor of the Spokane Ice Company, bought this land and had a two story wood-post building constructed in 1887. This…
Old City Hall
Spokane's Old City Hall was built in 1912-1913. The structure was intended to temporarily house the government of Spokane until funding could be raised for the constructions of a larger and more…
Montgomery Wards Building - City Hall
You are looking at the old Montgomery Wards building, now Spokane City Hall. The site of this building is wonderfully situated. It over-looks the Lower Spokane Falls, is next to Riverfront Park, and…
Great Western Building
The Great Western Savings and Loan building was constructed in 1900. It was originally named the Empire State Building, for the Empire State - Idaho company. The building was paid for by Charles…
Flour Mill
The city of Spokane began as a small cluster of buildings on the south side of the falls, focused around saw mills and and later flour mills. This is why the city was originally named Spokane Falls.…
Looff Carrousel
Riverfront Park's Looff Carrousel is one of America's most beautiful and well preserved, hand-carved wooden carousels. It has 54 houses, a giraffe, a tiger and two Chinese dragons, all of which are…
City Ramp Garage
You are looking at the City Ramp Garage. Built in 1928, this structure represents many firsts in Spokane history. It was Spokane's first mulit-level, staggered-floor, ramp-type parking garage. At…
Australian Sundial
The Australian Sundial was commissioned by Australia as a gift for Spokane after the world fair in 1974. Sister Paula Mary Turnbull was asked to build the sundial, and it was completed in 1976. She…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Whitten Block
Leydford B. Whitten (commonly refered to as L.B. Whitten) moved from Virginia to Spokane County in 1880 after having initially moved west to The Dalles, Oregon. L.B. Whitten was a curious man who was…
San Marco Apartments
In the early 1900s life was changing. As cities grew, real estate close to the city centers was becoming sparse and expensive. Public transpiration options in many cities, such as Spokane, was not…
Willard Hotel
The hotel located on the 1100 block of W. 1st Avenue has changed hands many times from when it was built in 1911. In 1911 the Single Residence Occupancy hotel, or SRO, was named the Willard Hotel. …
Montvale
Judge John Blinkley built the Montvale Block in 1899. The Montvale Block was as a Single Resident Occupancy hotel, which meant that much like a hotel each tenant had their own room as a measure of…
Knickerbocker Apartments
The Knickerbocker is a luxury apartment complex. It was built in 1911 with mine owners and other wealthy businessmen in mind. Graham E. Dennis, who built the building, lived in one of the apartments…
Amman Apartments
Prominent architect Albert Held designed the Amman Apartment building. Albert Held was raised in Minnesota, where he attended the University of Minnesota's Architecture program. Albert Held…
Jensen-Byrd Warehouse: Ghost Signs of Spokane Tour
In 1909 the Minnesota hardware company, Marshall Wells, hired the Minnesota native and Spokane resident Albert Held to design their Spokane warehouse. This building was designed as a warehouse at a…
"Dutch" Jake Goetz, Harry Baer and the Coeur d'Alene Hotel
"Dutch" Jake Goetz and his partner Harry Baer embodied the gold rush and pioneer attitude. After receiving two hundred thousand dollars in 1888 for their role in discovering the Bunker Hill mine,…
Diseases of Men: Venereal diseases were common in early Spokane, and desperate suffers sought out quack treatments.
Early Spokane was a town full of working men and working women. For laborers throughout the region the city was a refuge and a pleasuring ground. Miners, loggers, and agricultural workers would come…
Roos Field
The red field you see before you is Roos Field, formerly known as Woodward Field, home to Eastern Washington Universities Eagles. The vibrant red turf recently added in 2010 has earned the field its…
snyamncut: EWU's New Residence Hall
On this spot, bordered by Eleventh and Cedar Streets, stands Eastern Washington University's newest residence hall, snyamncut. This location used to serve as a parking lot for residents of Streeter,…