Built in 1893, Saltese School began as a simple log building built on land owned by early pioneer Daniel Courchaine. Grades one through eight were educated in this one-room schoolhouse. Most of the students were children of the first settlers of the area and later from farming and logging families.

In 1900, the building was rebuilt as the framed white building that remains today. The school hosted events other than the daily education of the youth. In the 1890s, the Lone Fir and Saltese Literary Association held regular debates in the school. Comprised of many prominent citizens, like members of the Courchaine family, the group would pose a new question for each meeting. They would then hold a lively debate on it. The questions ranged from the serious, "Should men be hired as teachers?" to the silly, "Which weighs more, 100 pounds of feathers or 100 pounds of steel?" Careful minutes were taken of each session.

The school graduated from outhouses to chemical toilets in 1914 and a former student, William Schoepke, built a barn out of the wood from the old outhouses. At a reunion in 1986, Schoepke recalled that, "When it rained, the horses almost drowned because it leaked so bad."

The school closed in 1942 and students were sent to Vera School instead. Life wasn't over for Saltese School, however. The building became the home of the Greenacres Grange 1055 for many years.

Today, a large sign in the yard proclaims it is going to become a "Green Single Family Residence." Until then, the Saltese School stands empty, boarded up, patiently waiting for the next stage in its life.

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[Private Residence]

Greenacres was the place to be for pioneer Daniel Courchaine in 1867. Born in Quebec in the 1830s, Courchaine lived in Green Bay, Wisconsin for a time before heading west to Spokane around 1866 to farm and raise cattle. He purchased 640 acres on what was then the California Trail from the Coeur d'Alene Indians. Courchaine had been settled in here for more than a decade before James Glover showed up to found the city of Spokane.

Here he built this picturesque white with red trim country farmhouse. The lumber had to be hauled by wagon to the site from Walla Walla, the closest sawmill, nearly two hundred miles away. Once the lumber had all arrived in 1868, it took Daniel eleven years to finish the house while his growing family lived in log buildings he had constructed.

Daniel remained friends with the Indians who frequently stopped by to trade fresh huckleberries for the hunting dogs that Courchaine raised. The Indians also used the property's fresh water spring to get clean water for their horses and themselves. Settlers traveling from California Creek to the Spokane Valley by wagon also stopped to camp on the Courchaine's land, knowing that there would be enough water and grass for their horses.

One of the oldest surviving houses in Spokane, the Courchaine house originally had four bedrooms and a sleeping porch. Although, it has been remodeled and modernized over the years with a bathroom and two other rooms, the original walls, windows and doors remain. Other remaining outbuildings include the barn built in 1889 and a brick milk house that had a natural spring cooling system.

Daniel Courchaine married in 1871 and lived in the house with his wife and seven children until his death in 1897. He was buried in the Saltese Cemetery a short distance from his house. Two of his sons, George and Tom, inherited the property. Later, George bought out his brother's interest in the land and raised cattle and grew some crops. In the 1930s, financial difficulties forced him to sell half of the property. He continued to live in the house his father built and work the land until his death at age ninety-three in 1979.

In 1967, George had a monument to his father erected at the beginning of the driveway. Today, passersby are invited to park at the end of the driveway and, for a modest fee, feed sheep that are kept on the property.

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By the early 1900s, automobiles were more affordable than ever and the middle class clamored for new roads. US Highway 10 was known at different times as the Sunset Highway, The North Pacific Highway, the Appleway and the Yellowstone Trail. Spanning over 2000 miles, it began in Detroit and ended in Seattle. Its route through the Spokane Valley followed modern day Sprague Avenue and brought travelers through the small communities of Dishman, Opportunity, Veradale and Greenacres on its way east into Idaho.

Motels and restaurants popped up all along the highway, inviting people to stop and stay awhile. Travelers could enjoy delicious meals at establishments like Madge's Chicken Dinner Inn (4928 E. Sprague) and then rest their weary bodies at The Paul Bunyan Motel (4602 E. Sprague). The road was also dotted with at least eight Triple XXX Thirst Stations. Triple XXX was a brand of root beer produced by The Galveston Brewing Company. The buildings were shaped like barrels and, in the later years, sold beer and wine in addition to root beer.

Most of these businesses ended their heyday in the late 1960s, becoming used car lots and parking lots when Interstate 90 rerouted traffic, but one remains in business. The Park Lane Motel, formerly known as Bert Nims Auto Court, still operates at its original location, 4412 East Sprague.

Although you're actually traveling US Highway 10 when you drive on Sprague Avenue today, most of it is just a memory for auto travel. You can walk along a surviving original strip of US 10 at the Idaho/Washington border where it is part of the Centennial Trail. As you walk, if you look to the left of the trail every one hundred feet or so, you can see the dates that indicate when that section was built, stamped into the concrete.

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Mica Peak today is a popular hiking spot with the entrance at Liberty Lake Regional Park. The very qualities that make it perfect for recreation today made it perfect for another activity nearly a hundred years ago - making moonshine.

From the beginning of Prohibition in Washington in 1916 until its end in 1933, industrious Spokane bootleggers brewed potent white lightning among the dark trees of Mica Peak. Although most stills were owned by individuals, Mica Peak also sheltered some larger commercial operations. These hidden little distilleries were so well known that the product they put out had its own brand name, "Mica Moonshine."

Aside from using the cover of the forests to hide their illegal business ventures, moonshiners had other tricks they employed to evade arrest. The State Survey and the Federal Survey markers that were supposed to mark the state line between Idaho and Washington were inconsistent, leaving a swath of about 40 feet between the two. When Washington officers showed up, the moonshiners would simply point out the markers and tell the officers that they had no jurisdiction there because they were in Idaho. If Idaho officials showed up, they would tell them they were in Washington's jurisdiction.

Many of the ingredients for the moonshine came from Spokane business owner, Albert Commellini. Commellini was an Italian immigrant who had a knack for business. He owned several in Spokane, including the upscale Ambassador's club. He used his Italian import company, to import the required ingredients for moonshine. He was often arrested, but none of the charges stuck, as Commellini was careful about keeping his records where police would never find them. It was even rumored that he had a speakeasy in the basement of his own home on the South Hill.

The end of Prohibition in 1933 brought an end to the need for the backwoods brew, but a few remnants of moonshiners' cabins still exist, the last testament to the entrepreneurial, if not law-abiding, spirit of early settlers in the Spokane Valley.

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