Like any immigrant, settling in a new land, cultural connectivity and education were important to a thriving immigrant community. For many, churches were the center of immigrant communities. Established in 1902, the Japanese Methodist Church, known now as the Highland Park United Methodist Church, is the oldest Japanese-centric church in Spokane.

Unlike Seattle, Spokane’s small Japanese population demanded a higher level of integration with the larger community. Like most immigrant cultures, assimilation happens at different levels, depending on generations. Issei, first generation Japanese immigrants, retained much of their traditional ways, but encouraged their children, known as Nisei, and grandchildren, Sansei, to adapt an American lifestyle while honoring their Japanese heritage.

The church offered more than religious services, English language courses held at the church appealed to Japanese families looking to become more American. One course offered in 1912, sought to help Japanese brides adapt to American culture by emphasizing Christianity and political loyalty. As more Issei had children, Japanese language lessons and clubs were formed to ensure that the newest generation did not forget their roots. By the 1940s, the Japanese Methodist Church featured Judo classes, a Boy Scout troop, Sunday school, and community picnics.

As coastal Japanese moved into the area from internment camps, a neighboring Buddhist temple was established, giving Japanese residents two options for religious community. Though they differed in religious practice, the two institutions have maintained a positive relationship to this day. Coordinating with the Japanese American Citizens League, Mukogawa, and other Japanese cultural groups, both host events celebrating the Japanese community and culture. Today, the church still offers Japanese language courses and encourages new visitors to come and check out one of their events.

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On a warm August day, Japanese-American pacifist and civil rights activist Gordon Hirabayashi made headlines, marrying his college sweetheart, Esther Schmoe, in a simple Quaker ceremony at Spokane’s Lidgerwood Evangelical Church. While the happy couple was not the first to have an interracial marriage in Washington, it was one of the most publicized. Yet the newspapers were relatively tame about the Hirabayashi wedding, other instances of white women marrying Japanese men were sensationalized.

Fighting against the injustices of WWII Japanese-American related government policies, Gordon Hirabayashi was seen as a rabble-rouser. The son of vegetable farmers in Auburn, Washington, Hirabayashi was refused to register for relocation to Japanese internment camp in 1942, resulting in a Supreme Court case. As he explained in a 1985 piece for the New York Times, “I felt that the Constitution, as I understood it, gave me certain protections as a citizen under martial law.” Waiting the outcome of his trial, Hirabayashi moved to Spokane to work with the city’s chapter of the American Friends Service Committee.

When the Supreme Court unanimously upheld Hirabayashi’s conviction on June 21, 1943, Hirabayashi was escorted by the FBI to meet Spokane County’s District Attorney, Edward Connelly. Since his assigned prison was inside the internment zone, Hirabayashi faced two alternatives: he could spend his sentence locked up inside the Spokane County Jail, or he could escort himself down to Arizona and serve time with the Tucson Federal road camp. Preferring the outdoors, Hirabayashi hitchhiked his way down to Tucson, where he served his sentence alongside other pacifists and conscientious objectors.

After returning to Spokane in 1943, Hirabayashi was arrested again for refusing to fill out the “Statement of United States Citizen of Japanese Ancestry” (Selective Service Form 304A), used to determine Japanese-American loyalty and draft eligibility. While out on bail, Hirabayashi and his fiancée decided to get married on August 5, 1944. Shortly after, he was sentenced to another prison term.

After serving nearly two years in prison, Hirabayashi focused on his academic studies, earning a Ph.D. in sociology in 1951. Eventually, Hirabayashi’s cases were overturned, and helped prompt the federal government to apologize for its wartime treatment of Japanese-American citizens. As for the married couple, they separated in 1970 and passed away just hours apart on the same day in January 2012.

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Sumi Yoshida and Joe Okamoto thought that December 7, 1941 was supposed a day that would live forever—in celebration. It was on that day the Japanese-American couple planned their wedding at the Desert Hotel, now the site of the Davenport Towers. The ceremony went off without a hitch, but the reception was marred by some unexpected guests. A squad of police and FBI agents cut the event short and arrested two guests. Earlier that day, Imperial Japan attacked the American fleet at Pearl Harbor killing more than 2,500 people. The two nations were at war.

For American citizens of Japanese descent, known as Nikkei, WWII ushered in an era of hardships few other Americans have experienced. Labelled as enemy aliens by the U.S. government, Japanese-Americans were made outsiders in the nation they called home.

With most of Spokane’s Japanese community celebrating the Okamoto’s nuptials at the Desert Hotel, government officials saw an opportunity. Two prominent leaders of Spokane’s Japanese community, Umenosuke “Hugh” Kasai and Kazuma “Frank” Hirata, were whisked away from their families and their community. Dubbed the "Mayor” of Spokane’s Japanese, Kasai was well known within the community, often acting as the community’s spokesman. Hirata was president of the local chapter of the Japanese Association, and like Kasai, was instrumental in building up a community where local Japanese could meet, and connect with others in the area. Their arrest the night of December 7, 1941 marked a dark new wartime era within the community.

In the following weeks, the local Japanese-American community was subject to heightened scrutiny. A curfew requiring all Nikkei to remain in their homes between 8pm and 6am was enforced, and restricted zones were set up throughout the city. According to a Spokesman-Review article on December 8th, 1942, the “the city’s Japanese population of 250 was carefully checked” by Spokane’s police, who searched for anything and everything that could be interpreted as potentially subversive. With the threat of imprisonment and fines hanging over their heads, the Japanese community had a choice: adapt or face severe consequences.

Unlike their friends on the West Coast, Japanese-Americans in Spokane were not forced into internment camps. For the remainder of the war, Japanese-Americans like the Okamotos stayed close to their community, avoiding interactions that could be considered suspicious.

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At the turn of the 20th century, Spokane boomed as a wealthy trade and industrial center in the Inland Northwest. Like all growing cities, there was a demand for imported goods. The Crescent Department Store was there to meet the demand. Founded by James Comstock and Robert Paterson, the Crescent planned its grand opening on August 5, 1889. However, the day before the Crescent opened, Spokane's business district succumbed to fire. Spared from damage, the Crescent Department Store opened as scheduled, selling out its entire stock on the first day.

Soon after the fire, Comstock and Paterson joined business with James Paine and Eugene Shadle, and formed the Spokane Dry Goods Company in 1895. Having purchasing offices in London, Paris, and New York, by 1909, the company's Crescent Department Store was the largest retail store in Spokane, and one of the largest in the region. Seeing the need to store large inventories, the company constructed a large warehouse in 1908. Its position next to the rail line made it ideal for unloading the variety of goods the company purchased for the department store. In 1909, the Spokane Dry Goods Company built a second warehouse south of the building, to serve as the headquarters for the company's offices and realty management.

Designed by Loren Rand and built by Fred Phair, the Spokane Dry Goods Company Warehouse was used until 1937, when the warehouse was rented to several wholesale tenants. During WWII, the U.S. Army used the warehouse, and after the war the building again served as the Crescent Department Store's inventory warehouse. Renamed the Crescent Service Building, the warehouse was used into the early 1990s when the company was dissolved.

Today, you can still reminders of the building's connection to the Crescent Department Store. A painted sign from the 1970s is still visible on the north side of the building. A sign can also be seen above the Lincoln street entrance on the left side of the building.

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Originally a Single Room Occupancy Hotel (SRO), the Saranac provided housing for hundreds of working-class laborers migrating to Spokane during a time of emerging industries. Built in 1910 by Coulee City businessman Hiram H. Hutton, the Saranac Hotel was home to individuals from all over the world. Between 1900 and 1910 Spokane's population boomed from 36,848 to 104,402 residents. The Saranac was one of many SROs built to meet the demand for cheap local housing.

The Saranac's owner Hiram "Harry" Hutton was born in Michigan in 1868. Having moved out west in his twenties, Hutton opened up a confectionary shop in Coulee City in the late 1880s. In 1892, he sold his shop to pursue fortunes in lumber and liquor. By the 1910s, Hutton and his wife Addie had moved to Spokane. The Hutton family continued to grow their businesses, owning several businesses and even opening up a second hotel on the 600th block of First Avenue, known as the Victoria Hotel.

While the upper floors housed visitors and residents, the lower floor was leased out to local businesses. Located blocks away from Spokane's Chinatown, the Saranac was home to several Japanese and Chinese owned businesses, including the City Hand Laundry and the North Coast Supply Company. A few years after Harry Hutton's death, the Saranac building was sold to Norboru Hayashi in 1947. It was one of several businesses bought by Japanese-American families after WWII.

In 2006, rehabilitation efforts transformed the Saranac into a thriving eco-friendly community building. Renovated by Jim Sheehan, owner of the Community Building located next door, the Saranac is LEED platinum certified. Today, the Saranac is one of twenty SROs still standing in Spokane.

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Don't let this bakery's cheery exterior fool you, Boots Bakery is serious about keeping things local. While renovating the space, the owners partially uncovered what is probably the best preserved ghost sign in Spokane an advertisement for Bull Durham Smoking Tobacco painted by the firm of "Billboard Baron" Thomas Cusack. Step inside and check it out.

Bull Durham was one of the most aggressive advertisers of tobacco one hundred years ago, and many American cities boasted brightly painted advertising signs with the iconic bull. The parent company hired as many four teams of sign painters, who continuously traveled the country with paints and brushes. Combined with magazine and newspaper advertisements, the effort was perhaps the first mass-market advertising campaign in American history.

But why is this bull inside the cafe? The wall you see was originally constructed as the outside wall of a building that stood next store. The sign was painted on the outside of that building. A few years later a new building arose on this site, sharing a wall with the old. The sign was plastered over preserving it for perhaps a century.

If you look behind the bar at Boots you will see another part of the sign, a signature panel for "Thos. Cusack, Chicago." Cusack was the first American to build a fortune from outdoor advertising. By 1920 his army of sign painters worked out of more than 100 offices across the country. In Chicago, a city notorious for labor strikes, Cusack was known for his fair labor practices and friendly relationships with his employees, who never walked off the job. When Cusack retired and sold his business in 1924, his workers earned $10 to $15 a day.

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This ordinary brick building on the corner of Lincoln and Railroad Alley stands as a reminder of the growth of business in early Spokane.

Built in 1898 by the merchants Rasher and Kingman, it is one of two buildings that remain from their partnership. It was the Spokane headquarters of the Columbus Buggy Company, one of the largest buggy companies in the world. Established in 1875 by Clinton Firestone, George Peters, and Oscar Peters, the Columbus Buggy Company made its debut in Spokane in September 1898 with Rasher and Kingman as the company's Spokane dealers. On the west side of the building, you can still see "Rasher & Kingman Vehicles of All Kinds, Schuttler Wagons" painted along the top of the building. Around the corner, on the north facing wall, you can see two signs. One for the Columbus Buggy Company, along the top of the building, and another for Child Bros. & Day.

The Child Bros. & Day Company was prominent in its commercial role within the city. Since Spokane was the largest city in the region, it was the main supply center for many inland northwest farmers. Formed in 1893, Child Bros. & Day was one of several large dealers of agricultural tools and equipment, selling to local companies and regional farmers. The company was later incorporated in 1906 with stock assessed at $25,000 (several million in today's dollars).

The Child brothers also made fortunes in property investment, leasing and selling properties to other Spokane businesses. Between the two Child brothers, Dana Child was the better known. Born in 1862 in Maine, Dana Child was the younger of the two brothers. Making a name for himself as a capitalist, Child and his family were often the subject of the Spokane society pages. As a prominent and wealthy member of the community, Dana Child was keenly interested in politics. He was elected as a Democratic representative of the State's House of Representatives in 1902. Well known for his political views, it was hoped by many that he would run for Mayor of Spokane in 1908. Though Child considered running, he was never an official candidate. In 1909, Dana Child became the vice president of the National Bank of Commerce, a bank he helped create with partner George Day. He stepped down from this position in 1914, after being named Spokane's postmaster by President Woodrow Wilson. Child stayed politically active into the 1940s, serving as the Chairman for the Spokane Democratic Committee. Dana Child died in 1943, at the age of eighty-one.

There is little left of the Child Bros. & Day Company in Spokane. Their advertisement on the side of the Rasher and Kingman Vehicles building is a small reminder of the many businesses and men that helped make Spokane a prosperous place to live.

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When the territory of Washington became a state in 1889, the city of Spokane Falls was one of its largest and most successful cities. Attracting wealthy businessmen who had stakes in the nearby Idaho mines, Spokane Falls was a thriving young city with a prosperous elite, two newspapers, and a growing downtown. More permanent stone and brick buildings were quickly replacing the old wooden structures, marking the transition of an old trading post to a new modern city. Yet like all many cities at the turn of the century, wood frame buildings vastly outnumbered stone and mortar structures. And wood, as we all know, likes to burn.

You are currently standing at the site of the Pacific Hotel, one of the first buildings to fall in Spokane's Great Fire of 1889. Described by locals as "the most devastating fire that has occurred in the history of the world."

1889 was a year filled with devastating fires for the Pacific Northwest. Seattle, Ellensburg, Cheney, and the nearby Coeur d'Alene forest all succumbed to fire that year. Spokane was not exempt. On the evening of August 4, 1889, a small lodging house and restaurant caught fire on Railroad Avenue. Early attempts to extinguish the blaze were fraught with difficulty. Firefighters from the local volunteer fire department quickly gathered what they could to fight the fire, but their hoses lacked sufficient pressure. By all accounts, panic began to set in as the intense heat and shifting winds allowed the flames to quickly jump from the timber buildings to the stone and mortar buildings nearby.

As the fire moved north and east, it became evident that the city's business district was in jeopardy. In an effort to protect the main business area, Mayor Fred Furth ordered the demolition of several dozen buildings. By many accounts not only was it ineffective, the sound of explosions tearing down buildings only added to the sense of panic and fear. To make matters worse, the winds that had pushed the fire north and east suddenly changed directions, carrying the flames southward, destroying the Northern Pacific freight depot. Knowing the fire could destroy even more, officials quickly moved trains out of the fire zone to prevent even more damage and loss.

By the time the fire died, over thirty blocks had been burned, wiping out the downtown area and causing several million dollars in damages. After the fire, the city quickly blocked off the burned areas of downtown. Individuals who held property in the area had to obtain passes in order to enter the burn zone. Structures that remained behind as charred skeletons of what once stood, and were deemed public nuisances. Those who lost work due to the fire were hired on to clean up and rebuild the downtown area. Immediately after the fire, tents began to pop up for local businesses, selling goods and services. Some found new forms of investment in the area, including many Dutch businessmen who invested heavily in the reconstruction of Spokane Falls.

News of the fire spread nationwide, and tales of the disaster were quickly sensationalized. The dramatic tale of a prominent emerging city destroyed by flames caught the attention of many, prompting an out pour of aid. Relief packages were sent from cities across the country, including $15,000 from Seattle and food provisions from Portland. Tents, bedding, clothing and food came in by the train from cities all over. The quantity of food and supplies greatly outweighed the actual needs of those affected by the fire. Several accounts note that this excess of relief goods prompted several city officials and councilmen to bring home wagon loads of provisions. Public outrage over the scandal prompted a jury to indict two councilmen and a police officer for the misappropriation of relief supplies in December of 1889. However, no trial ever occurred and the men were never relieved of their positions. This incident prompted some to refer to the seated council for those years as the "ham council." In April of 1890, several members of the "Ham Council" were later expelled and suspended over charges of bribery.

The fire drastically changed the ways in which Spokane Falls was rebuilt. Buildings were designed with fire in mind, adopting newer fire-resistant methods. Building upon the ruins of their old city, Spokane Falls thrived after the fire, attracting entrepreneurs, investors and businesses. Within two years of the fire, much of the city had been rebuilt and adopted a new charter under the name Spokane.

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As Washington Territory began to grow and attract more settlers looking to make a better life, conflicts between settlers and Indian tribes escalated. Unlike the fixed settlements of pioneers, who viewed land as private property, tribal communities were accustomed to migratory and temporary settlements on land they believed was communally owned. This fundamental difference in the ways Indian tribes and white settlers approached land ownership and settlement led to conflicts over territory and land use. In the 1860's the United States government began to forcibly remove Washington tribes to established reservations, opening up more land for settlers.

The arrival of the railroads in the 1870s allowed for more settlers to arrive by rail causing the government to move more tribes onto reservations. Many tribes, already facing a loss of land, saw resettlement attempts as an attack on tribal sovereignty and independence. By the late 1870s the small series of armed resistance, known as the Indian Wars, arrived in the Pacific Northwest. The Nez Perce War (1877) and the Bannock War (1878) fought over resettlement and land disputes lead many settlers to call for increased military presence in the area.

In 1880, near the Big Bend area where the Spokane and Columbia rivers meet, Camp Spokane was established to ensure peace between settlers and tribes in the area. The camp was strategically located between both the Colville Indian Reservation and the Spokane Indian Reservation. By 1882 Camp Spokane was renamed Fort Spokane and permanent structures were built to house troops, keep prisoners, and hold supplies. By the late 1890s the threat of clashes between settlers and tribes had subsided. When the United States entered the Spanish American War in 1898, most of the troops garrisoned at Fort Spokane were deployed to Cuba, and the fort was decommissioned.

In 1899, the fort was taken over by the Colville Indian Agency, who saw it as the perfect place for establishing an Indian Boarding School. As the United States was a "civilized nation", popular opinion dictated that other cultures should adopt a Protestant Western culture in order to become part of civil society. Indian Boarding Schools served as a way of reeducating native children in an attempt to encourage civilized habits over the perceived savage behavior of their parents. Here the children donned western apparel, took Western names, and learned a variety of skills needed to live in civil society.

In response to dwindling attendance and the establishment of day schools on the reservations, the school was converted to a hospital in 1916, where it remained until the fort was abandoned in 1929. After 31 years of vacancy, the site was taken over by the National Park Service in 1960. Of the estimated 45 original buildings, only 4 remained intact on the site, and were restored for educational purposes. Today the fort is part of Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area and gives visitors a glimpse into what life was like on the frontier.

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Levi Hutton and his wife, May Arkwright Hutton, are rags to riches legends in the Inland Northwest. Both orphans, the couple traveled out west and met at a boarding house run by May Arkwright in what is now known as Kellogg, Idaho. The two married in 1887 spent the next ten years working at the boarding house and Levi working for the railroad. Like many others who migrated west, the two hoped to strike it rich, and invested the Hercules Mine of Wallace Idaho. After striking silver ore in 1901, the couple invested their life savings (totaling $5,284) into the mine. The Huttons and the other owners worked the mines themselves, putting everything earned back in to the mine. By 1906 the Huttons had amassed a fortune from the mine's dividend payouts, and decided to move to Spokane.

Having built the Hutton Building the following year in 1907, the couple moved in to the building's 4th floor penthouse. After seven years of city living, Levi Hutton purchased some plots of land in the Altamont area. When the home was built, the area was still mostly woods. Since the two had amassed a rather large fortune, the home was built with the couple's tastes in mind. Intended to be a touch of country in the city, the residence boasts luxurious details like leather walls, an outdoor fireplace and furniture shipped in from Chicago, while still providing enough room for Mr. Hutton to have a large vegetable garden, green house, and even a cow. Architect George H. Keith created the Colonial Revival style home for the Huttons, and the total project was estimated around $45,000. The couple moved in in 1914, and donated the neighboring land east of their home to the community as Lincoln Park. Unfortunately, Mrs. Hutton passed away a year later from Bright's disease.

The two both had a passion for philanthropy and often donated their time and money to charities in the area. Not only did the two serve on the board of the Florence Crittenton Home for unwed mothers, May Hutton was known to have secured husbands for many of the women, and even tracked down some of the absentee fathers. The two felt very strongly about securing the well-being of orphaned children like themselves. On several occasions the couple took every child in the local orphanage out to the circus. In 1917, after the death of his wife, Levi Hutton established the Hutton Settlement, an independently run children's home that sought to break the mold of traditional institutional orphanages. From 1914 until his death in 1928, Levi Hutton lived simply in the home he had built to share with his wife. Very little was changed about the home, and when he passed away, the contents of the Hutton estate went to support the Hutton Settlement. Since Levi Hutton's death, the home has been owned by several families and is currently a private residence.

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When Levi and May Arkwright Hutton struck silver ore in 1901 at the Hercules Mine, the couple's lives dramatically changed. Both from humble beginnings, the pair met while working on railroad in Idaho. Upon striking it rich, the two moved to Spokane in 1906 and built the Hutton building the following year. Originally built as a 4-story building, the Huttons moved in to the penthouse apartment on the top floor while their mine and other business headquarters were housed below. The over-sized foundation allowed for an additional three stories to be built in 1910 making the building what it is today.

While Levi Hutton concerned himself with the mining business, May Arkwright Hutton became a passionate and outspoken political activist. Known for her eccentric character, May Hutton was a prominent figure in the statewide women's suffrage movement, and took every opportunity to promote her cause. Early on, before she and her husband gained wealth, May Hutton brought up women's suffrage in union meetings, and even ran for the Idaho legislature.

In 1896 Hutton finally succeeded in securing the vote for women in Idaho. Upon moving to Spokane, her political activism continued and caught the attention of many of Spokane's elite, as she was a ball of energy who loved to dress up frequently in mens attire. After helping to secure the vote for women in Washington, May Arkwright Hutton became the first woman in Spokane to register to vote.

May was an outspoken Democrat declaring that she believes "that the people should rule" in a 1912 Spokesman Review editorial on her political beliefs. In May of 1912, Mrs. Hutton joined the suffrage party's appeal to President Wilson on the vote, and was known across the nation for her activism in the suffrage cause. She was friends with three time presidential candidate, William Jennings Bryan, and was known throughout the United States for her work on women's suffrage. In addition to women's rights, the Huttons were concerned with labor unions and worker's rights. Before striking rich, May Hutton even wrote a novel based on their experiences in the mines, called "The Coeur d'Alenes Or a Tale of the Modern Inquisition". The novel focused on the mining strikes of the late 19th century and highlighted the labor unions in the mines.

The Hutton's penthouse apartment in the Hutton building allowed for May Hutton to host social events in their home, and gave the couple easy access to the many charities they were involved in. Upon May Hutton's death in 1915, her husband, Levi Hutton sought to establish a home for orphaned children as a lasting testament to their legacy. Having no children of their own, the couple was known to spend their money on worthy causes. The Hutton Settlement was no exception. Upon Levi Hutton's death in 1928, the entire estate was left to fund the children's home for years to come.

After the Huttons moved out in 1914, the building remained in the family estate until 1969. The building underwent a major renovation in 1989, after the building was acquired from the family estate twenty years earlier. Today it is the home of offices and local retail stores in downtown Spokane.

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Life as an orphan out on the western frontier was full of hardships. Without parents, orphans bounced around from distant relative to distant relative. It was a lonely life for most, who were often treated like servants in the homes they occupied. According to Levi Hutton, life with his uncle was so unbearable he ran away to fight Indians at age 15, only to return on account of his empty stomach. But by 18, he had headed out west to make it on his own. In 1887, Levi married fellow orphan May Arkwright, and moved to Wallace, Idaho seeking fortune. After investing all they owned in Wallace's Hercules mine, the Huttons struck it rich in 1901.

Though their lives were changed by wealth, they never forgot their orphaned pasts. Having moved to Spokane in 1907, the Huttons were actively involved in community charity organizations.The two were very involved at the Florence Crittenton Home which housed unwed mothers and their children, and often took groups of orphans to the circus and other events. Having no children themselves, the Huttons even provided a loving home for several children under their temporary care.

After May Hutton's death in 1915, Levi Hutton, who often recalled the hardships of his childhood, began planning a home for children who have been abandoned, orphaned, or abused. This home, according to Hutton would provide a loving home that fostered self-reliance and confidence in the children it housed. In 1917, Levi Hutton had established the Hutton Settlement on over 300 acres of land. The settlement was designed to provide a "Happy Home" for children while teaching them skills through working on the farms located on the site. The Settlement is privately funded through a carefully organized trust funded by the Hutton fortune, and was intended to be self-sufficient by using the crops grown on the property for food. In addition to the 9 buildings on the site, there is a barn, vegetable garden, and land for farming.

Upon his death, Levi Hutton secured the future of the Hutton Settlement by giving almost all of the Hutton fortune to to the project. Levi Hutton believed bequeathing his and his wife's fortune to the home was the right thing to do. To this day the Hutton Settlement continues Levi Hutton's vision of providing a home for children. It continues to focus on providing a home and family for those who have none. The Settlement's continued commitment to the well-being of children is a standing testament to the Huttons and will continue to be for years to come.

For more information on the Hutton Settlement please visit their website: http://www.huttonsettlement.org/

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The Great Crash in December 1929 left a lasting impact on the American economy--and on Spokane. Plans by Fox West Coast Studios to build a theater had been part of Spokane gossip since 1927. The million dollar project began in 1930, early in the Great Depression, and provided 200 jobs for out-of-work citizens, helping Spokane stay afloat during economic decline. Movies were hugely popular during the Depression, providing a cheap distraction from daily life. Movie studios were producing more films, as more visitors attended their showings in theaters.

Upon its completion, Spokane's citizens were shocked to see the stark concrete exterior of the Fox. The Spokesman-Review referred to the building as "unusual, so bizarre and so futuristic . . . certainly Spokane has seen nothing like it before." Its sleek concrete exterior, designed by John C. Reamer looked nothing like the drawings of an elaborate Italian-Spanish theater the Spokesman-Review published years earlier. The modernistic exterior with plain art-deco detailing signaled the dawn of a new modern era in Spokane. The theater's interior, designed by Anthony Heinsbergen, was filled with elaborate art-deco detailing. The theater also featured modern conveniences like air conditioning and smoking parlors near the restrooms. The Fox was the first motion picture theater built by a major motion picture company in Spokane.

As more movie theaters began to pop up in the city, the Fox Theater began to decline in popularity. In 1975 the theater divided its upper balcony into two smaller theaters in the hopes of competing with larger suburban multiplexes. The splendor and beauty of the facility faded and the theater's old age began to show and in 2000, the theater's doors finally closed. Rumors began to surface in 2000 that the Spokane Club was planning on buying the theater site to construct a parking plaza. Fortunately the Spokane Symphony purchased the Fox with the intent to restore it and make the theater the symphony's permanent home. In 2001 the theater was added to the Spokane Historic Register, and underwent a $31 million dollar restoration, which required $5 million in fundraising.

In 2007, the Fox Theater reopened its doors as the Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox in recognition of the charitable donation made by Myrtle Edwidge Woldson in the name of her father, Martin Woldson, Scandinavian immigrant and successful pioneer-turned businessman. The theater today has been converted back to its original configuration and hosts many events for the community on top of its Spokane Symphony performances.

MAC 100 Stories: A Centennial Exhibition is told on the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture campus in Spokane's Browne's Addition, with additional highlights at 15 sites in Spokane and eastern Washington. The exhibit experience (February 22, 2014 - January 2016) weaves stories and programs about Inland Northwest people, places and events by capitalizing on the MAC's extraordinary collection. www.northwestmuseum.org

Spokane Historical presents 15 regional and city tours in partnership with the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture and its 100 Stories exhibition.

For more information about the Fox and events at the Fox, visit www.foxtheaterspokane.com.

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