Beginning early in the year of 1905, Chief of Police Leroy Cotman Waller unleashed a campaign against all “vagrants” designed to round up as many perceived undesirables as possible and place them in the city jail. As the war on crime progressed into…

In 1915, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was a fledgling organization fighting for racial equality in the United States. The release of Birth of a Nation that year galvanized the young organization. The film…

Founded by Peter B. Barrow in 1910, the Deer Lake Orchard Company consisted of 140 acres of farmland meant to provide an opportunity for Black workers trying in hope of to build their place in the Northwest. With the combined efforts of 45 investors…

The Wednesday Art Club was founded in July of 1913 in Spokane Washington. The organization was lead by African-American women, who not only held art shows but strived to better the Black community in Spokane. The art shows that were held highlighted…

In June 1946, the semi-finals of a Golden Gloves boxing tournament occurred at Geiger Air Force Base. There were 7,000 soldiers in attendance to see the match between a white and Black soldier. After a great showing in the first round, the Black…

Jangba Johnson was humiliated by the barbershop owner John W. Wheeler for refusing to service the young Black man saying that he did not cut “colored hair”. Johnson complained to his fellow students at Gonzaga about his mistreatment. Some students,…

There’s nothing terribly notable about the Chevron station on the corner of Monroe Street and Third Avenue. A person fueling up their vehicle might admire the elegant Brotherhood of Friends building across the street, or perhaps notice the Steam…

As young men returned from the first World War, monuments sprang up around the country to honor them, and their fallen comrades. Groups like the Women’s Relief Corps, that had supported the soldiers during wartime with care packages, turned to…

The Columbia Plateau was torn by warfare in the late 1850s. One of the significant battles that took place was the Battle of Four Lakes, where Native American tribes including the Yakama, Palouse, Spokane, and Coeur d'Alene fought against the…

Spokane Garry, whose Spokane name was Sough-Keetcha, lived a long life. Born in 1811 at the confluence of the Spokane and Little Spokane Rivers, he was sent while still a boy to a missionary school at Red River. The idea is that he would be…

A stone marker in front of a modest home at 603 S Arthur St commemorates the life of Sonora Smart Dodd, known for her creation of Father’s Day. Born in 1882, in Jenny Lind, Arkansas she was 5 years old when her family migrated to Spokane,…

The Reverend Joseph Cataldo opened the St. Michael’s Mission in the 1860s. The simple log structure of that time was intended to be a school for both white and Indian pupils. Born Giuseppe Cataldo in Sicily in 1837, this Jesuit missionary is…

In 1982, Eastern Washington University set out to find a notable commencement speaker to celebrate their 100th anniversary. Invitations to participate in the centennial celebrations went out to notable alumni, state and federal congressional…

This cenotaph was created in order to memorialize and honor the Americans who gave their lives fighting in WWI. It was officially unveiled on Armistice Day, a national holiday commemorating the end of WWI on November 11th, 1919. Armistice Day was…

If you look just west of I-90 on Sunset Hill you will see a brick smokestack standing taller and older than the trees around it. On the stack, white bricks proudly spell out “Hoyt,” the last name of the two brothers that founded the greenhouses on…

Spokane is the birthplace of Glen Michaels, who lived here until he was drafted into World War II in 1945. His love of art began at a young age when he began drawing and painting at the Spokane Art Center, a program of the New Deal during the Great…

The Nick Mamer Memorial Clock, located in Felts Field, Spokane, Washington, stands as a tribute to the aviation pioneer. This rectangular, concrete clock is about 40 feet tall and is a symbol of Mamer's contributions to aviation and his impact…

For over one hundred years now, the Spokane Mountaineers club has had a sizable impact on recreational sports and environmental stewardship in Eastern Washington and beyond. Founded on September 19th, 1915, by well-known public librarian Ora…

Before Wandermere Golf Course was even in existence, the lake on the property was known for its winter pastime of ice skating. As far back as the late 1800s when Francis H. Cook owned the property and continuing through the ownership of Benjamin…

In 1858, tensions between the white settlers and the native population grew in the Palouse. In May of 1858, Col. Edward Steptoe led an expedition meant to end at Fort Colvile. His plan was to suppress Indian resistance. Steptoe and his men were ill…

One of the most prominent families in Spokane’s history is that of the Cowles. William H. Cowles, Sr. came to Spokane in 1891 with a vision of starting his own news company. By 1894 he was the majority owner of the Spokesman-Review, which is still…

One of the early hostelries for visitors to Spokane Falls was the Hotel Emery, a two-story brick building on Riverside between Washington and Bernard that opened in 1892. The building's first owner is generally given as F. Lewis Clark, although the…

Discrimination and segregation were common in Spokane much of the early-mid 20th Century. Segregated neighborhoods and even cemeteries existed as early as the 1920s. De jure segregation (government sponsored) supported racially restrictive property…

In 1968, the United States was at a turning point. Debates about segregations had led to Washington Senate Bill 378, which specified that in Washington a real estate agent would have their license revoked if they were found to be discriminating…

Red, Yellow, Green, and Blue. From the 1930s to the 1960s in Spokane, these colors dictated whether you could obtain an insured mortgage on a home. HOLC maps, or Redlining maps, were color-coded maps that separated neighborhoods by race, housing…

Located on the southwest corner of Jefferson and First Avenue, the Parsons Hotel opened in 1910 as a family-oriented hotel with 104 rooms. It was built in 1909 by W. E. Parsons, a railroad man and real estate investor, at a cost of approximately…