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Fire Lookouts – From Hermit's Castles to Weekend Get-A-Ways: Fire Lookouts
The fire lookout started as a means of early detection of forest fires. Today its new role is as a week-end get-a-way.
First Church of Christ, Scientist
The year 1889 brought a new religious experience to Spokane. The Church of Christ, Scientist, was described by one adherent as “similar to Protestantism,” with having the added benefit of scientific…
First Congregational Church (Westminster UCC)
First Congregational Church (now called Westminster Congregational Church), located next to Lewis and Clark High School, has a long history. In 1838 when Congregationalists first arrived in the…
Five Mile Prairie Schoolhouse
The original Five Mile Prairie Schoolhouse was built in 1901. It was a small one-room building that housed fourteen students and one teacher. In 1912 the school, which had become too small for the…
Float Homes of Bayview: Floating homes, Lake Pend Oreille
The "Floating Village" near Bayview, Idaho has been part of the community's history since 1910. These homes are fully equipped for full time residents or vacationing families.
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.…
Flumes, Chutes and Splash Dams: Logging in the early years
Logging for white pine in north Idaho required a new transportation method to get the logs from the mountain to the mill. Flumes, chutes and splash dams were the solution.
Fort Colvile: A Hidden Gem in the Columbia Basin
Two global fur trade companies became one through a forced merger, a deal that would have a lasting effect on the fur trade in the Pacific Northwest.
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…
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…
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…
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…
Francis H. Cook
A forgotten founder of Spokane, Francis H. Cook was one of the most influential people in Spokane’s History.
Little is known about Cook’s childhood other than in 1851 he was born a twin to Silas…
Fraternal Influence at Greenwood Cemetery
At the end of the 19th Century, membership in fraternal organizations and social clubs was at a peak - when it was common for ladies and gentlemen to be enrolled in several groups at a time. Women's…
Frederick/Longbotham Building: Ghost Signs of Spokane Tour - Story 16
Like many buildings in the East Downtown Historic District, the Frederick/Longbotham building speaks to Spokane's past through the many faded advertisements still visible on its exterior.
At the…
Fresh Air for All: MAC 100 Stories: A Centennial Exhibition
Spokane's basalt outcroppings and deep river gorge captivated Boston landscape designer John Charles Olmsted. His firm, Olmsted Brothers, was instrumental in spreading an urban planning movement…
From Brickyard to Park: Cannon Hill Park: This quiet park was once a busy brickyard.
Cannon Hill Park was originally home to a brickyard. Henry Brook discovered a clay deposit in the 1880s and it was used for making bricks. Cannon Hill bricks were widely used in downtown buildings as…
From Faculty to Frat Boys: Philena Apartments
Apartment building originally built to house female faculty is now inhabited by frat boys.
From Temperance to Microbrews: MAC 100 Stories: A Centennial Exhibition
Temperance activist Carrie Nation of Kansas was famous for smashing saloons with a hatchet in the days before Prohibition. Before Nation's 1910 visit to Spokane, the mayor ordered saloon-goers to…
Frontier Violence in Colfax: The Courthouse Lynchings
Nineteenth century Americans loved a good courthouse. Here in 1889, the residents of Whitman County constructed a grand gothic palace of justice that stood prominently until 1957 when it was torn…
Gaiser Conservatory: Manito Park Tour
The original greenhouse was on the corner of 18th and Grand until 1912, when it was relocated to its current location. It was renovated in 1974 in anticipation of the World Expo, and the central dome…
Garland Milk Bottle
The Garland Milk Bottle was built in 1935, along with its sister location downtown. Billed as "designed to build better men and women by making dairy products more attractive to boys and girls" with a…
Garland Movie Theater
The Garland Movie Theater opened in late November 1945 to a line that stretched around the block with the movie It's a Pleasure, starring Sonja Henie. According to the Spokane Daily Chronicle the…
Getting a Goat: Expo '74 and Riverfront Park Tour
Surrounded by a grotto of basalt columns is one of the most perennially popular remnants of Riverfront Park's past - the "Garbage Goat." Sculpted by Sister Paula Turnbull, a local nun and leading…
Steam Plant: Ghost Signs of Spokane Tour
The Spokane Steam Plant began as simple cost saving measure. In the early 1900's the Trustee Company owned five buildings in Spokane's downtown, and hit upon the idea of producing their steam heat…
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…
The Globe Hotel: Ghost Signs of Spokane Tour
The railroad lines, and the limitless job opportunities that came with them, brought a great number of families to the Inland Northwest in search for better lives. Seeing the need for inexpensive…
The Washington Cracker Company: Ghost Signs of Spokane Tour
The Washington Cracker Company building, which still stands at the corner of Bernard and Pacific Streets, is one of the most visible reminders of Spokane's foray into the industrial world. Its high…