By Anna Harbine
Sumi Yoshida and Joe Okamoto thought that December 7, 1941 was supposed a day that would live forever—in celebration. It was on that day the Japanese-American couple planned their wedding at the…

By Anna Harbine
In the first half of the twentieth century small Japanese farms peppered the outskirts of the city. The produce from their farms in Bigelow Gulch, Nine Mile Falls, Spokane Valley, and Latah Creek…

By Anna Harbine
Being Japanese in Hillyard was not always easy. Home to a large community of railroad workers of every nationality, conflicts between the Japanese and other laborers were frequent, sometimes resulting…

By Anna Harbine
On a warm August day, Japanese-American pacifist and civil rights activist Gordon Hirabayashi made headlines, marrying his college sweetheart, Esther Schmoe, in a simple Quaker ceremony at Spokane’s…

By Anna Harbine
Like any immigrant, settling in a new land, cultural connectivity and education were important to a thriving immigrant community. For many, churches were the center of immigrant communities.…

By Anne Coogan-Gehr
Welcome to Greenwood Memorial Terrace. A walk through this cemetery will be a tour through Spokane's history. In the late nineteenth century, Spokane Falls of the Washington Territories had a…

By Anne Coogan-Gehr
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…

By Anne Coogan-Gehr
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…

By Anne Coogan-Gehr
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…

By Anne Coogan-Gehr
On the second terrace of Greenwood, Bernhardt Schade, a German immigrant, is buried at the family plot. Schade arrived in Spokane in the late nineteenth century with his Austrian Bohemian wife,…

By Anne Coogan-Gehr
By the late 1870s, Spokane was becoming a town, a real town. And every town needs its women to stitch the fine threads of social and community structure. Early Spokane women followed their men to…

By Arianne Howarth
Just to the south of Harrington proper is the Hillcrest and St. Francis cemeteries, which are owned and maintained by the city. The Hillcrest grounds were designated and purchased as a cemetery in…

By Arthur Brunnenkant
Like many of the commercial structures in downtown Cheney, the Masonic Temple has had many tenants and uses over the decades. Two influential architects of the 19th century, Kirtland Cutter and…

By Arthur Brunnenkant
The Robert Reid Lab School started as a training school in 1908 where college students did student teaching with elementary students from the community. This was important because the normal schools…

By Austin Kerst
James Wesley Crow was born in Gooding, Idaho enlisted in the Army AirCorps during World War II. After his tour, James retired from the military and became an inventor of a seed separating device and…

By Benjamin Sanders
Knight's Diner is a restaurant in Spokane, Washington. Knight's diner was formerly part of Hillyard, Washington, a bustling railroad town on the north eastern edge of Spokane. Hillyard was…

By Benjamin Sanders
Situated upon a basalt cliff above the Spokane River is one of Spokane's most recognizable landmarks; the Royal Riblet Estate. Nicknamed the Cliff House, it was constructed in 1925 by architect…

By Benjamin Sanders
Situated comfortably along the north bank of the Spokane River is Plante's Ferry Park, the birthplace of the city of Spokane Valley. It is named after it the first "citizen" of Spokane Valley,…

By Billie Slick
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. The Crosby…

By Billie Slick
The Clemmer Theatre, now known as the Bing Crosby Theater, was built in 1915 by Edwin W. Houghton. The building was first used as an 800-seat movie theater. The theater was very luxurious with…

By Billie Slick
During the 1950's, Gonzaga recognized the need of a good library, and Bing Crosby became a major supporter for their cause. Crosby organized a television show called the Edsel Show in 1957, and…

By Billie Slick
Deborah Copenhaver sculpted this bronze statue of Bing Crosby which was dedicated on Bing's birthday, May 3, 1981. Crosby had died in 1977. Kathryn Crosby, his widow, was in attendance. Bob Hope…

By Billie Slick
In 1916, Bing became an an altar boy for St. Aloysius Church. Every third week, he attended and served mass at 6:30 a.m., Monday through Friday. One of Bing's friends asked him if he would like…