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Dr. Mary Latham, Greenwood Cemetery
Dr. Mary Archard Latham, Spokane's pioneer female physician, is one of early Spokane's most colorful and controversial characters.
Latham graduated from medical school in 1886, at the age of 42,…
Hidden Tunnel at Greenwood Cemetery
Would you believe there's a tunnel that runs through the cemetery grounds at Greenwood Memorial Terrace? It's true. The 1889 plat for the cemetery indicates a proposed railroad terminal in the…
Riverside Cemetery
The land where Riverside Memorial Park lies was originally a recreational municipal park, which opened in 1907 when John Aylard Finch spearheaded the organization of the Riverside Park Company. It…
John G. Lake, Riverside Cemetery
Faith healer, John Graham Lake, was a prominent evangelical preacher and contributor to the founding of the American Pentecostal movement in the early 1900s. He began the first healing rooms in…
Spokane's First Legal Hanging, Greenwood Cemetery: Spokane's First Legal Hanging, Greenwood Cemetery
Where lays Charles Brooks? Who was he? Why is he in an unmarked grave? Mr. Brooks has the unfortunate fame of being the first legally hanged man in Spokane.
The 1891 Brooks case was quite the…
Spokane's Deadliest Disaster, Greenwood Cemetery
There are 15 unmarked graves at Greenwood Memorial Terrace that belong to railroad workers who were blown to smithereens on 06 September 1890.
A crew, of at least 24 men, was working that day to…
Sisters of St. Francis, Fairmount Cemetery
Clustered together in the Catholic section of Fairmount Memorial Park are 8 graves from the early 1900s that belong to the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Each grave was once marked with a…
Spanish Influenza Victims, Riverside Cemetery
Spokane: Another statistic of the 1918 influenza pandemic. In fact, Spokane's mortality rate was nearly three times the national average, 6%. The Spanish flu, as it was commonly called, first…
Father Velis and the Holy Trinity Lawn, Riverside Cemetery
Greek Orthodox heritage in Spokane: Father Nicholas J. Velis was instrumental in fostering its growth and longevity. He was also the one who pushed for an eternal resting ground for the community of…
The Alternate Uses of Fairmount Cemetery
On any given day, you will find that Fairmount Memorial Park is used for much more than the interment of the dead. Located at the end of a neighborhood drive, the Park is used for ... well, a park. …
My Name is Jim Wardner
My name is James Fredrick Wardner but my friends call me Jim. Despite the lack of notoriety for my accomplishments, I contributed a great deal to the mining success in the Silver Valley. Because of my…
Hendrick Hall: Once a Home for Students, Now a Home for the International Programs: International House of Travel and Intercultural Center
Hendrick Hall, once a student dormitory, is now the Intercultural Student Center. What is now known as Hendrick Hall, in honor of Eileen “Mom” Hendrick, has experienced several changes throughout its…
Bennett Block
A prominent downtown building's namesake once threatened a Spokane newspaper editor at gunpoint.
From Faculty to Frat Boys: Philena Apartments
Apartment building originally built to house female faculty is now inhabited by frat boys.
Silverwood - From Airport to Theme Park
Regionally known as the largest amusement park in the Inland Northwest, Silverwood has a long and varied history as an airport, an air museum, and finally a place of roller coasters and waterslides.…
The Spokane Coliseum
"Like the pyramids of Egypt and Grand Coulee dam, Spokane's mammoth concrete and steel structure, the municipal Coliseum, has been built to last," pronounced the Spokane Daily Chronicle on December 3,…
Nine Mile Falls
In Spokane as elsewhere, waterpower was the driving force behind industrial development. The dam and powerhouse at Nine Mile Falls are key pieces of Spokane history. This dam and its builder, Jay P.…
Tubbs Hill
Tubbs Hill overlooks the City of Coeur d'Alene. It is situated between the lake, the resort and the rest of downtown Coeur d'Alene. It is purely a lucky mistake that the hill became a public park…
A jackass, a big hill, and the community that loves them: This is the story of the lucrative jackass that started it all (up on a hill), the memory and embodiment of that jackass (and that hill), and the story of survival of a beloved ski area that was far from lucrative.
All ski areas have many ups and downs in their history, not just in relation to lift operations up and down the mountain. But the Jackass Ski Resort has had more downs than ups in its lifetime. It is…
Lookout Pass: The ski area discovered by freight-hoppers, which grew into a real winter sport destination.
Today we have heli-skiing for the true adventurers who want to tackle untamed powder, but in the early 1900s it took real ingenuity to access downhill ski areas off the beaten path. Located in the…
The Sunken Ore of Lake Coeur d’Alene: Every body of water holds history and buried secrets, some may be dark or tantalizingly lucrative, others just let the trash and junk tell their stories. Lake Coeur d’Alene is no exception.
When you hear of shipwrecks and sunken treasure, the mind automatically drifts to thoughts of pirates and the deep sea. But there is a rumor of a different kind of treasure sitting at the bottom of…
A Gathering Place, The Historical Fort Sherman: A place of beauty, used for centuries as a gathering place, became the foundation of the city we know today as Coeur d’Alene.
The first rule of business is to be careful who you partner with. The beauty of Coeur d’Alene drew attention that changed the course of history for both the Coeur d’Alene people and the inland pacific…
J.C. White House - New Museum of North Idaho: J.C. White was a strong supporter of “keeping it local”, he helped build the city we know today.
J.C. White was an engineer who liked to party, but he was also a strong proponent of community and development. It is tough to strike the right balance, but as the history of Coeur d’Alene shows, it…
The 4th of July Regatta on Lake Coeur d’Alene: A true celebration is incomplete without things that are loud and go fast, that is how the Coeur d'Alene 4th of July festivities began.
Forty horsepower engines and twelve year olds racing! Newspaper records show the first competitive rooster tails spouted over lake Coeur d’Alene on July 3rd, 1913, for the early 20th century, Coeur…
Cataldo Mission
Driving east along Idaho's Interstate 90, as you come around the bend at mile marker 38, a stunning view of the Old Mission opens up on your right. On a bright spring day, it can even look…
Whitworth Veteran Memorial: In Memory of Those who Died Protecting the U.S.: Here lies the memories of some of the soldiers that attended Whitworth
Here Whitworth honors and remembers those who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of the United States. These Whitworth students were American heroes and deserve to be remembered. To honor these…
Trentwood Kaiser Aluminum Rolling Plant
The economy of Washington is tightly connected to the vast hydroelectric development of the state. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the federal government laid the framework for a series of…
Vera Pump House No. 1
In the early 1900s development of the Spokane Valley was driven by land speculators. With a modest investment into infrastructure and a far flung advertising campaign, small land management companies…
St. Joseph's Church & Cemetery
Among the earliest signs of white settlement in the Spokane Valley was the construction of churches and cemeteries, and St Joseph's Church & Cemetery is the earliest in the Spokane Valley. The…
The Corbin Ditch
The main challenge for farming in the Spokane Valley was supplementing the meager local rain fall with manmade irrigation systems. Gravity ditches, such as the Corbin Ditch, formed the core of early…