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Pence Union Building
Also known as the PUB, EWU's community center was first completed in 1970. It was renovated in 1985. The food services were redesigned and expanded, and a new sound system was added. The school also…
Dryden Hall
Cecil Dryden Hall first opened in the fall of 1965. Like many of the other buildings on campus, it was originally constructed as an all-female dorm. Dryden has 129 rooms, and was built of reinforced…
Hargreaves Hall
When Richard T. Hargreaves became President of Eastern Washington University in 1926, the school did not have its own campus library. Building one was a long-time dream of his, and became his most…
The Collapse of the Division Street Bridge: A Tragedy Paved the Way for Concrete Bridges
With five men dead, twelve injured, and neighborhoods cut off from gas and electricity, the collapse of the Division Street bridge in 1915 remains one of Spokane's worst disasters. In the wake of the…
Head for the Hills: Spokane’s Air Raid Evacuation Test of 1954
In 1954, Spokane made international news when the entire city staged a drill for a nuclear attack
Neighborhoods Matter: The Impact of the I-90 Freeway on the East Central Neighborhood, an Oral History - Introduction
Spokane's East Central neighborhood is located just east of Division street and north of Sprague avenue, a stretch of mostly flat land that tapers into the Spokane valley as one moves east and winds…
Lois D'Ewart, Resident Since 1960
"You'd have thought we moved to the North Pole when we moved to the other side of the freeway."
Lois D'Ewart has lived in the East Central neighborhood since 1960, long enough to remember the…
Wayne Struck, Resident Since 1944
"[The effects of I-90 were] very negative. I don't know, it just seemed to take the heart out of the people."
Wayne Struck has lived in the East Central neighborhood since 1944. One the…
Claudia Holtz, Associated Since the 1908s
"[The I-90 freeway] separated the little neighborhood [to the north] from all the services on the south side."
Claudia Holtz does not live in the East Central neighborhood, but she has worked…
Jerry Numbers, Resident Since 1945
"I-90 might have been good for Spokane, but it was not good for [the East Central] neighborhood."
Jerry Numbers is, without a doubt, the most recognized leader in the East Central neighborhood. He…
Dave Clack, Resident and Business Owner Since 1938
"It's been a very graphic, if not shocking display of what a major infrastructure change can have on a neighborhood."
Dave Clack's family has owned property and operated businesses in the East…
Jack-Daniyel Strong, Business Owner Since 2012
"We're divided. We're completely separate, and you have to make a concerted effort to get to one side or the other."
Jack-Daniyel Strong's experience with the East Central community began in 1995,…
Devin Samuelson, Business Owner Since 2013
"Traffic being diverted to the freeway left the businesses here in more of a state of need than I think people were hoping."
Because Devin Samuelson's experience with the East Central neighborhood…
Bill and Doug Trudeau, Business Owners Since 1948
"Some of the residential that was left wasn't worth saving. Probably the best homes are still left here."
The lasting effects of the construction of the I-90 freeway were not all bad, according to…
Jerome Green, Resident Since the early 1960s
"The freeway truly impacted the community. It dispersed families. It was a total division between the north part of Spokane and the south part of Spokane."
Jerome Green has lived in the East…
Jim Hanley, Resident Since 1942
"It was just a nice little community, and then the freeway came through and bisected the thing so we ended up with two East Central neighborhoods."
Jim Hanley has lived in the East Central…
Violet Noble, Resident Since the 1940s
"We didn't like the things they did and they didn't like the things we did."
Born in Meridian, Mississippi in 1927, Violet Noble came to the East Central neighborhood during the growth period of…
Tommy Fletcher, Resident Since 1950
"It was quite difficult, I have to tell you like it is . . . . We couldn't buy a house in South Hill because of color."
Like Theo Adams, Tommy Fletcher moved to East Central in 1950 and experienced…
Theo Adams, Resident Since 1949
"When we moved here, to this house, people put up a petition because they didn't want us here. That's been years ago, but they couldn't stop us from moving in."
Theo Adams, who has lived in East…
Debbie Takami, Resident Since the 1960s
"The area where we grew up was a real neighborhood. Now it's just fast food restaurants and the freeway."
Debbie Takami is a life-long resident of Spokane. She grew up in the East Central…
Ivan Bush, Resident Since 1978
"At one time the East Central neighborhood was the most diverse neighborhood in the city."
In this interview Ivan Bush, who has lived in the East Central neighborhood for over 35 years, identifies…
Great Northern Railway Depot in Harrington
The rise and fall of railroads and railroad depots mirror the rise and fall of towns in the western United States. The town of Harrington, Washington was one of the many beneficiaries of the Great…
Tiffany’s Skate Inn: A Roller Skating Palace for Its Era
It was the place to see and been seen
A Brief History of Wallace, Idaho
At the heart of the Silver Valley, Wallace has always been a town of boom and bust.
Founded in 1884, the town is named for William R. Wallace, a local farmer. Silver mining would soon replace…
The Death of Bill Jackson: Part 2: Police Brutality or Rough Justice?
Abandoned by his white father, Bill Jackson struggled to navigate Spokane society as a mixed-race Indian in the late 19th century. Hardships and trauma pushed him towards a treacherous crime and…
Bill Jackson: The Story of a Mixed-Race Indian in Early Spokane: Part 1: From the Prairie to the Prison
Abandoned by his white father, Bill Jackson struggled to navigate Spokane frontier society in the late 19th century. Hardships and trauma pushed him towards a treacherous crime.
Spokane Shows Its Pride: “We’re Here. We’re Queer. We’re Fabulous- Get Used To It!”
In 1992, Spokane’s first pride march moved forward under restriction and threat, as participants took to the sidewalks to demand visibility in a city that had yet to make space for them.
The Workshop Building
The workshop building was originally built in 1885 and cost the government $1,013.78. The 136 foot by 24 foot structure housed the blacksmith shop, carpenter shop, paint shop, tanner and wheelwright…
Boarding School Days: Fort Spokane Tour
What you see in front of you is where the barracks would have stood. While the ground floor was used to contain the kitchen, mess hall, wash room, library and non-commissioned officer's rooms, the…
Cheney Electric Light Works and Leifer Apartments: A sign of prosperity in the rural countryside
From generating electricity to embalming corpses, this 19th-century Cheney building has had many uses.