Bing Crosby's Childhood Home

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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 home is located at 508 E. Sharp Avenue. The house in now part of the Gonzaga University Campus, and is known as the Crosby Alumni House.

Harry Lillis (Bing) Crosby was born in Tacoma, Washington, on May 3, 1903. Harry was the fourth of seven children in a family that included four boys and two girls. Bing's father was Harry Lowe Crosby and his mother was Catherine Harrigan.

In 1910, when Harry was seven, one of his friends began calling him "Bingo" from a local newspaper comic strip. The nickname was eventually shortened to Bing, and from that time on, he was called Bing by everyone but his mother.

In 1912, Bing was playing baseball for Webster Grade School, and he made his theatrical debut at North Central High School.