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High Drive Parkway
The breathtaking views ago High Drive are the highlight of Spokane's system of scenic roadways.
The system was laid out a century ago and is described in the Park Board Report of 1913, "High Drive…
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…
Minnehaha Health Spa and Resort
When Edgar J. Webster came to Spokane in 1883 he planned to practice law. He built his summer home on the outskirts of the growing city of Spokane in a place called Minnehaha. The stone building…
Underhill Park
Underhill park started as Underhill Playfield. Unlike many of the other early parks in Spokane, which were meant to be landscaped gardens of peace and contemplation, this park was designed to have…
Polly Judd Park
Polly Judd was an enthusiastic supporter of Spokane Parks and was active in the community. According to her obituary on March 30, 1981 in the Spokane Daily Chronicle, she was one of the founders of…
High Bridge Park: Spokane Park Highlights Tour
High Bridge Park has had a variety of uses including a motor camp, sanitarium for tuberculosis, temporary home to a steam locomotive, federal housing for veterans, a potential zoo site, a dude ranch…
Grant Park
Grant Park sits in the newly revitalized Perry Street District on the lower South Hill. This park is unique in that it was originally designed to be a playfield, originally called the U. S. Grant…
Aubrey L. White Parkway: Spokane Park Highlights Tour
Aubrey L. White is the known as the father of Spokane's Parks. He arrived in Spokane in 1889 and spent a lot of time mapping, marking, and noting the incredible views and features in the Spokane…
Ben Burr Trail
This trail constructed along an abandoned railroad line was part of the old Spokane and Inland Empire Railroad Company. This passenger line transported people within Spokane as well recreational…
Palisades Park
Palisades Park starts high above Spokane and includes about 700 acres. The cross streets are Greenwood Rd. and Rimrock Drive. The park is considered both conservation land and a city park and…
Indian Canyon Park
This hidden and beautiful park sits just off Riverside Drive under the shadow of a railroad trestle.
This park was once home to several Native Americans including Chief Spokan Garry. Native…
Joel E. Ferris Perennial Gardens: Manito Park Tour
From 1905 to 1932 during the zoo years at Manito this area was covered with decorative hedges and paths to different areas of the zoo. Reports list animal cages along the wall to the current Rose…
That Place Where Ghosts of Salmon Jump, Spokane Falls
At the Spokane Public Library's Overlook Park there is a platform overlooking Spokane Falls. It was here that artist and former Spokane resident Sherman Alexie was inspired to write his poem, "That…
Unsolved Assassination
[PRIVATE RESIDENCE - Do not disturb.]
A shot rang out, glass broke, and down went the former Spokane Police Chief, John Sullivan, in his own living room. On Jan. 5, 1911 the former Chief of Police…
Trent Alley: Spokane's Original Melting Pot
In 1913, the east side of Spokane's downtown teemed with small businesses run by Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Greek and German immigrants. Their restaurants, laundries and baths, barber shops, hotels,…
Schade Brewery
Spokane was a town of working men--and a town of breweries when the Schade Brewery was built in 1903. Bernhardt Schade, who owned the building, was brew master at the locally-owned and operated New…
Theodore Roosevelt on the Parade Grounds: Fort George Wright Tour
You are standing where Teddy Roosevelt stood on April 8th 1911, reviewing the 500 heroic African-American troops of the 25th Infantry as they passed in review. The 25th Infantry had served with…
The Crescent Building
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. …
Washington State Archives, Digital Archives
Opening in 2004, the Washington State Archives Building was created to house both the Eastern Washington Regional Archives and both state and local government Digital Archives. It was the first…
snyamncut: EWU's New Residence Hall
On this spot, bordered by Eleventh and Cedar Streets, stands Eastern Washington University's newest residence hall, snyamncut. This location used to serve as a parking lot for residents of Streeter,…
Roos Field
The red field you see before you is Roos Field, formerly known as Woodward Field, home to Eastern Washington Universities Eagles. The vibrant red turf recently added in 2010 has earned the field its…
Diseases of Men: Venereal diseases were common in early Spokane, and desperate suffers sought out quack treatments.
Early Spokane was a town full of working men and working women. For laborers throughout the region the city was a refuge and a pleasuring ground. Miners, loggers, and agricultural workers would come…
"Dutch" Jake Goetz, Harry Baer and the Coeur d'Alene Hotel
"Dutch" Jake Goetz and his partner Harry Baer embodied the gold rush and pioneer attitude. After receiving two hundred thousand dollars in 1888 for their role in discovering the Bunker Hill mine,…
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…
Amman Apartments
Prominent architect Albert Held designed the Amman Apartment building. Albert Held was raised in Minnesota, where he attended the University of Minnesota's Architecture program. Albert Held…
Knickerbocker Apartments
The Knickerbocker is a luxury apartment complex. It was built in 1911 with mine owners and other wealthy businessmen in mind. Graham E. Dennis, who built the building, lived in one of the apartments…
Montvale
Judge John Blinkley built the Montvale Block in 1899. The Montvale Block was as a Single Resident Occupancy hotel, which meant that much like a hotel each tenant had their own room as a measure of…
Willard Hotel
The hotel located on the 1100 block of W. 1st Avenue has changed hands many times from when it was built in 1911. In 1911 the Single Residence Occupancy hotel, or SRO, was named the Willard Hotel. …
San Marco Apartments
In the early 1900s life was changing. As cities grew, real estate close to the city centers was becoming sparse and expensive. Public transpiration options in many cities, such as Spokane, was not…
Whitten Block
Leydford B. Whitten (commonly refered to as L.B. Whitten) moved from Virginia to Spokane County in 1880 after having initially moved west to The Dalles, Oregon. L.B. Whitten was a curious man who was…