Palouse village, known to the local tribes as Naha’u’umpu’u, or “People of the River,” was one of the oldest sites of the Palus (or Palouse) Indians of the Pacific Northwest. It is located at the…

Is the creek in front of you called Hangman or Latah Creek? It depends on who you ask.

Hangman Creek is one of the Spokane River’s largest tributaries and is surrounded by lush meadows and farmland. It once provided local tribes with food sources such as trout, salmon and freshwater…

Like most of the landscape in Eastern Washington, the South Hill Bluffs in Spokane reveal the incredible influence of Lake Missoula’s ice dam that broke apart and surged through the area around 20,000…

The area known as Vinegar Flats has a diverse history and was once home to local tribes, pioneers from the East coast, as well as new immigrants moving into Spokane. As early as 1874 there were small…

The West Central neighborhood was platted in the 1880’s when William Pettet and William Nettleton invested heavily in the area. The neighborhood grew with new homes and businesses and hundreds of…

Local family owned businesses help create and define neighborhoods and in the early part of Spokane’s history small butcher shops, supply stores and dairies were a familiar sight. Built in 1905 and…

In the early years of the 20th century, Gilbert Chamberlin and his son Ernest created much of the West Central neighborhood.

Every Spokane neighborhood has its beloved iconic business. The Milk Bottle in Garland, Dicks Hamburgers and Frankie’s Diner downtown, and The Elk in Browne’s Addition help define the unique character…

Beginning in the 1800s, many Catholic parents began to believe that their children were not served by a system of public education that was dominated by Protestant educators and elected officials.…

Carnivals and Circuses were big business in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Barnum and Bailey’s ‘Greatest Show on Earth’ and the popular Ringling Brothers Circus were two of the biggest…

One hundred years ago, women had little access to birth control or legal ways of ending pregnancies. For unwed women, an unplanned pregnancy could lead to expulsion from the home and social disgrace.…

Spokane stands on the edge of a sea of wheat, and grain and milling was a growth industry in the city in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. There are several mills still standing to…

Education is a cornerstone of great cities, and Spokane is no different. The elegance of buildings like the McKinley School testify to the value that early Spokanites attributed to public…