This building, the INB Performing Arts Center, was originally built as the Washinton State Pavilion for Expo 74. One of the most serious concerns for an exposition is getting exhibitors. The first on the list was the state of Washington. Fair…

The Pine Creek Dairy Creamery building was built in 1908. It was an extension of the Pine Creek Dairy that operated in the Spokane Valley. The building was used for office space and a distribution center as well as the manufacture of cream, butter…

The Mearow Block began as two separate buildings the Bickett Hotel built in 1905 and the Richmond Hotel built in 1907. Joseph A. Mearow bought the two buildings and in 1928 connected them with a one-story brick building. Mearow operated the Bell…

Originally named the Hangman Creek Bridge, this span was constructed in 1911. The creek below was known as Hangman Creek since 1854, when Colonel George Wright hanged a group of American Indians, who had entered his camp under a flag of truce,…

You are looking at the Miller Block, built in 1890. Stanley Miller, a co-proprietor of the Spokane Ice Company, bought this land and had a two story wood-post building constructed in 1887. This building burned down during the great fire of 1889. …

Spokane's Old City Hall was built in 1912-1913. The structure was intended to temporarily house the government of Spokane until funding could be raised for the constructions of a larger and more grand structure. The building was designed to…

You are looking at the old Montgomery Wards building, now Spokane City Hall. The site of this building is wonderfully situated. It over-looks the Lower Spokane Falls, is next to Riverfront Park, and is in the Central Business District of Spokane. …

The Great Western Savings and Loan building was constructed in 1900. It was originally named the Empire State Building, for the Empire State - Idaho company. The building was paid for by Charles Sweeny and F. Lewis Clark, who also funded the…

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. After the 1889 fire had burned much of the city it…

Riverfront Park's Looff Carrousel is one of America's most beautiful and well preserved, hand-carved wooden carousels. It has 54 houses, a giraffe, a tiger and two Chinese dragons, all of which are hand carved. Charles I. D. Looff built…

You are looking at the City Ramp Garage. Built in 1928, this structure represents many firsts in Spokane history. It was Spokane's first mulit-level, staggered-floor, ramp-type parking garage. At the time of its construction, parking for…

Large department stores once ruled the centers of American cities. Macy's in New York, Nordstrom in Seattle, and the Crescent in Spokane sold everything needed for daily life and often many extras. The buildings that housed these stores were…