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Welcome to Historic Fort George Wright: Fort George Wright Tour
By the end of the 19th century, after generations of hard frontier living and occasionally violent interactions with the native population, the United States had firmly established itself in the…
Barracks and Buffaloes: Fort George Wright Tour
The 24th Infantry regiment contained the famous all-black "Buffalo Soldiers" who had fought bravely in the capture of San Juan Hill during the Spanish American War. The regiment had endured many…
Frontier Justice at Fort George Wright: Fort George Wright Tour
It was the night of August 14th 1916 and Edward F. Mayberry was on the run. Three witnesses had seen Mayberry murder 35 year old Native American woman Alice Vivian on the Colville Reservation near…
Fort George Wright Cemetery: Fort George Wright Tour
When Fort George Wright was constructed in the 1890s, effort was made to ensure a proper final resting place could be afforded the men who died there while serving in the military. A peaceful spot was…
WWII Convalescent Hospital
Training for combat at Fort George Wright gave way to recovery and recuperation during the Second World War. In 1941, Fort Wright had changed hands and become part of the United States Army Air…
Who Was George Wright?: Fort George Wright Tour
The Fort George Wright monument tells the story of the fort from its creation in 1895 to its acquisition by the Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute in 1990. The Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute has started…
Totem Pole: Fort George Wright Tour - Story 6
Col. George Wright would be shocked to find a symbol of the continued survival of the Native American cultural tradition at the military base that bore his name. Yet the Fort Wright Totem Pole stands…
Australian Sundial
The Australian Sundial was commissioned by Australia as a gift for Spokane after the world fair in 1974. Sister Paula Mary Turnbull was asked to build the sundial, and it was completed in 1976. She…
City Ramp Garage
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…
Looff Carrousel
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…
Flour Mill
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.…
Great Western Building
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…
Montgomery Wards Building - City Hall
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…
Old City Hall
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…
Miller Block
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…
The Aluminum Fountain
The symmetrical tall sculpture in front of you was created by George Tsutakawa in 1974. George Tsutakawa has created fountains all over the United States and Japan. In congruence with Mr. Tsutakawas…
Shamil
This sculpture with the austere expression was dedicated on July 2, 1992. This abstract sculpture was given to Spokane by our former sister city Makhachkala. The sculpture represents Shamil, an…
The Call and The Challenge
The sculpture in front of you is called The Call and The Challenge. It was erected by Ken Spiering in 1986 to commemorate Sacred Heart Medical Center's 100th year anniversary. The piece depicts Mother…
Lantern Statue
This twenty-foot cement statue was originally titled Untitled, but was quickly renamed The Lantern due to its striking closeness to that of a Japanese lantern. A disarray of geometric cut-outs allows…
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
From 1955 to 1975, more than 3 million Americans fought in Vietnam. Almost 60,000 U.S. soldiers were killed, and more than 150,000 wounded in combat. Almost every community across the United States,…
The Rotary Riverfront Fountain: Expo '74 and Riverfront Park Tour
The magnificent fountain in front of you, almost never transpired from vision to reality. When Riverfront Park was renovated following Expo '74, an entertaining children's fountain, as well as an…
The Centennial Sculpture
What's that in the river? The stainless steel sculpture floating in the Spokane River was created by Harold Balazs in 1978. It was dedicated to the city in 1981 in celebration of the City of Spokane's…
Spokane County Courthouse
The building you are currently standing in front of is the Spokane County Courthouse. Although it looks like an old, romantic European castle, it is actually the place where the county's first public…
Jaco Finlay
You are standing at the grave of Jacques "Jaco" Finlay (1769-1828). Finlay was a Canadian trader for The Northwest Company. Jaco's father, James Finlay from Scotland, established a fort in Canada and…
The Formidable May Hutton
In 1883, orphan May Arkwright moved to Idaho from Ohio where she worked as a saloon cook and opened up her own boarding house, where she quickly gained a reputation as the "best cook in the Coeur…
Creamery Robbery Turns Deadly
You are now standing where a murder weapon was disposed of in 1935 only to be rediscovered in 1989 solving the oldest active murder case in the nation.
In 1935, Newport City Marshall George…
Sex Work in Early Spokane: Sex work was an important economic driver in the growth of the Lilac City.
Though first-hand accounts from prostitutes in this era are rare, a set of letters from a Spokane sex worker shed light on "the world's oldest profession."
Michael P. Anderson Memorial
A graduate of Cheney High School and the University of Washington, Michael P. Anderson was a proud Washingtonian.
He was described by friends and family at his memorial service as being "a humble,…
The Joy of Running Together
The Joy of Running Together is a public work of art in honor of the annual Spokane Bloomsday Run. Located near the finish line of the race, and is meant to give encouragement to the runners in their…
"From This Earth" Northwest Mining Association Statue
Spokane artist Glenn Emmons was the artist chosen by the Northwest Mining Association to sculpt what Spokesman Review writer Lorie Hutson dubbed, the "larger-than-life bronze statue" that they donated…