Ghost Signs of Spokane
The Ghost Signs tour is a student-led project that cataloged the signs painted on the sides of the downtown buildings. In addition to this digital tour, students created a walking tour complete with a pamphlet.
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Welcome to the Ghost Signs Tour: Ghost Signs of Spokane Tour
Advertising is not a new phenomenon in America. Print advertising for goods and services goes as far back as the seventeenth century with the spread of literacy in the colonial period. The…
J&D Paints: Ghost Signs of Spokane Tour
The faded J&D Paints advertisement on the side of this building describes more than paint, it is a relic of a time when Spokane was a city of neighborhoods, each with its own miniature commercial…
Blair Business College: Ghost Signs of Spokane Tour
At the corner of First and Post Streets stands a squat brick building upon which is painted "Blair Business College." The faded sign is visible from blocks away, but few people understand its…
The Columbus Buggy Company and Child Bros. & Day: Ghost Signs of Spokane Tour
This ordinary brick building on the corner of Lincoln and Railroad Alley stands as a reminder of the growth of business in early Spokane. Built in 1898 by the merchants Rasher and Kingman, it is…
The Crescent Service Building: Ghost Signs of Spokane Tour - Story 5
At the turn of the 20th century, Spokane boomed as a wealthy trade and industrial center in the Inland Northwest. Like all growing cities, there was a demand for imported goods. The Crescent…
Bump Block and the Hotel Carlyle: Ghost Signs of Spokane Tour - Story 6
This towering structure of brick was one of the first to be built following the Great Fire of 1889. The Bump Block, constructed in 1890, is a seven-story Commercial Style infused with more classical…
F.A. Williams Pioneer Ford: Ghost Signs of Spokane Tour - Story 7
Before the automobile, Spokane moved at a much slower pace. Across America, city streets were filled with pedestrians, horses, buggies, and streetcars-- all moving at speeds below 10 mph. Like many…
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…
Commission Building: Ghost Signs of Spokane Tour - Story 9
Constructed in 1906 by James M. Geraghty, the Commission Building was one of Spokane's early produce warehouses. Built for the Rasher-Kingman-Herrin Company, the Commission Building stored and…
Fairmont Creamery and Cold Storage: Ghost Signs of Spokane Tour
On the outskirts of Spokane's Central Business District lies a scattering of brick warehouses littered with the fading signs of a different era, including one advertising the Fairmont Creamery and…
The Saranac Hotel: Ghost Signs of Spokane Tour
Originally a Single Room Occupancy Hotel (SRO), the Saranac provided housing for hundreds of working-class laborers migrating to Spokane during a time of emerging industries. Built in 1910 by Coulee…
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…
Henry George Cigars: Ghost Signs of Spokane Tour
There is a striking ghost sign painted on the east side of the building at 27 West Main Street (now Harmon Autoglass) that suggests the rough-and-tumble character of the neighborhood in the 1910s when…
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…
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…
Boots Bakery and Bull Durham Smoking Tobacco: Ghost Signs of Spokane Tour
Don't let this bakery's cheery exterior fool you, Boots Bakery is serious about keeping things local. While renovating the space, the owners partially uncovered what is probably the best preserved…
Broadview Dairy: Ghost Signs of Spokane Tour
The Broadview Dairy sign is a reminder of the importance of local dairies in turn-of-the-century Spokane. Indeed, milk was a staple food in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and was…Tour curated by: Frank Oesterheld, Anna Harbine, Caitlin Shain, and Erin Pulley