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Theo Adams, Resident Since 1949
"When we moved here, to this house, people put up a petition because they didn't want us here. That's been years ago, but they couldn't stop us from moving in."
Theo Adams, who has lived in East…
Tommy Fletcher, Resident Since 1950
"It was quite difficult, I have to tell you like it is . . . . We couldn't buy a house in South Hill because of color."
Like Theo Adams, Tommy Fletcher moved to East Central in 1950 and experienced…
Violet Noble, Resident Since the 1940s
"We didn't like the things they did and they didn't like the things we did."
Born in Meridian, Mississippi in 1927, Violet Noble came to the East Central neighborhood during the growth period of…
Jim Hanley, Resident Since 1942
"It was just a nice little community, and then the freeway came through and bisected the thing so we ended up with two East Central neighborhoods."
Jim Hanley has lived in the East Central…
Jerome Green, Resident Since the early 1960s
"The freeway truly impacted the community. It dispersed families. It was a total division between the north part of Spokane and the south part of Spokane."
Jerome Green has lived in the East…
Bill and Doug Trudeau, Business Owners Since 1948
"Some of the residential that was left wasn't worth saving. Probably the best homes are still left here."
The lasting effects of the construction of the I-90 freeway were not all bad, according to…
Devin Samuelson, Business Owner Since 2013
"Traffic being diverted to the freeway left the businesses here in more of a state of need than I think people were hoping."
Because Devin Samuelson's experience with the East Central neighborhood…
Jack-Daniyel Strong, Business Owner Since 2012
"We're divided. We're completely separate, and you have to make a concerted effort to get to one side or the other."
Jack-Daniyel Strong's experience with the East Central community began in 1995,…
Dave Clack, Resident and Business Owner Since 1938
"It's been a very graphic, if not shocking display of what a major infrastructure change can have on a neighborhood."
Dave Clack's family has owned property and operated businesses in the East…
Jerry Numbers, Resident Since 1945
"I-90 might have been good for Spokane, but it was not good for [the East Central] neighborhood."
Jerry Numbers is, without a doubt, the most recognized leader in the East Central neighborhood. He…
Claudia Holtz, Associated Since the 1908s
"[The I-90 freeway] separated the little neighborhood [to the north] from all the services on the south side."
Claudia Holtz does not live in the East Central neighborhood, but she has worked…
Wayne Struck, Resident Since 1944
"[The effects of I-90 were] very negative. I don't know, it just seemed to take the heart out of the people."
Wayne Struck has lived in the East Central neighborhood since 1944. One the…
Lois D'Ewart, Resident Since 1960
"You'd have thought we moved to the North Pole when we moved to the other side of the freeway."
Lois D'Ewart has lived in the East Central neighborhood since 1960, long enough to remember the…
Neighborhoods Matter: The Impact of the I-90 Freeway on the East Central Neighborhood, an Oral History - Introduction
Spokane's East Central neighborhood is located just east of Division street and north of Sprague avenue, a stretch of mostly flat land that tapers into the Spokane valley as one moves east and winds…
Head for the Hills: Spokane’s Air Raid Evacuation Test of 1954
In 1954, Spokane made international news when the entire city staged a drill for a nuclear attack
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…
Hargreaves Hall
When Richard T. Hargreaves became President of Eastern Washington University in 1926, the school did not have its own campus library. Building one was a long-time dream of his, and became his most…
Dryden Hall
Cecil Dryden Hall first opened in the fall of 1965. Like many of the other buildings on campus, it was originally constructed as an all-female dorm. Dryden has 129 rooms, and was built of reinforced…
Pence Union Building
Also known as the PUB, EWU's community center was first completed in 1970. It was renovated in 1985. The food services were redesigned and expanded, and a new sound system was added. The school also…
Huston Hall
Huston, first constructed in 1915, is one of the oldest buildings on the EWU campus. Over the years, the building became known for its versatility and its association with technical vocations. It was…
Cheney Historical Museum
The Cheney Historical Museum traces its roots to the Tilicum Club. This women's social and service club was organized in Cheney in 1903. In 1935, during the club's annual Pioneer Tea, a group of early…
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…
Whitworth University Fieldhouse: A House For Indoor Sports: Current home for the Pirates basketball and volleyball teams
The official announcement came in late July of 1961; Whitworth College was getting a fieldhouse. Dr. Frank F. Warren, president at the time, broke the exciting news to the college after a luncheon in…
Falls City Opera House: Spokane's First Live Theater
The rude frontier hamlet of Spokane experienced its first taste of the nightlife in 1887 when the Falls City Opera house opened at 706 West Main Street. Spokane's "first and only theater" was open to…
The North Division Drive-In at the Y
Circa 1952: The Y Drive-In of Spokane
In the 1970's the City Corporation Council warned Spokane to "clean up its ordinance" after receiving complaints from church groups that the old drive-in theater at the Y was playing pornographic…
Puttin' on the Ritz
: The Ritz Theater of Spokane, Washington
circa 1924
"The little theater charms and satisfies and makes an attractive addition to Spokane's Playhouse Row" (Spokesman-Review, 11 May 1924).
"The World's Largest Stage"
: Spokane's Golden Age Auditorium Theater
It was the "crown jewel" of a small town that had burned to the ground just one year before...
The Ceremony of Tears: The rising waters of Lake Roosevelt ended a 10,000-year native tradition
As Kettle Falls, a popular Native American fishing and gathering spot slipped slipped below the surface of Lake Roosevelt, Indians gathered for one final ceremony.
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 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.