Forty horsepower engines and twelve year olds racing! Newspaper records show the first competitive rooster tails spouted over lake Coeur d’Alene on July 3rd, 1913, for the early 20th century, Coeur d’Alene was truly cutting edge.

Long before the first Diamond Cup Regatta in 1958, the waters of early 20th century Coeur d’Alene came to life with competitive challenge racing.

The novel idea of using Lake Coeur d’Alene for sport instead of just for logging and transport came alive at the January 16th, 1913 Chamber of Commerce meeting. The Coeur d’Alene Regatta was then born, beginning July 3, 1913 a three-day water sport Fourth of July celebration began. Competitions were the central theme, with canoe racing, log rolling, swimming and diving, with inboard and outboard boat racing.

Finding an exact location on the lake proved to be problematic, but the South side of Tubbs Hill was quickly purchased to use as the official site. The rocky hillside offered spectators a grand view of the lake and the surrounding mountains, it could be accessed by a short boat ride or a gravel trail that winds around the base of the hill. The Fort Sherman Dock Company facilitated building a grandstand with the agreement that they would receive a fifty-fifty split of the revenue from use of the structure each year. Excitement from the local community members had great fundraising results for the project, along with thousands donated from local merchants and transportation companies. The first few years proved to be very lucrative events for the city.

Over the three days of that first regatta, boats with between 8 and 40 horsepower engines competed. The events drew such a large crowd that the position of competitive boat racing became an official staple in all future regattas. The first inboard race was seven laps around a one-mile course. Dr. W.W. Scott of Coeur d’Alene’s launch Kryptok and W.H. Carver of Rockford’s launch Ogema were driven in the race by their twelve-year old sons W.W. Scott Jr and Gale Carver. Eight horsepower engines powered the boats and Carver won easily by two and a half minutes, finishing the course in thirty-five minutes and thirty seconds.

The unlimited hydroplane racing began in 1958 with faster, more powerful and more wild activity. All the boats competing were piston-powered, usually V-12 Allison or Rolls-Royce Merlin engines. A slew of accidents and injuries marred the 1959 Diamond Cup, with multiple drivers hospitalized, boats destroyed and one driver comatose for several weeks. Starting in 1965 the race activities were cut down to only one day of the celebration, and this relieved the problematic parties and wild behavior. But the damage had been done. Due to the repeated unruly behavior by the spectators, hydroplane races were banned by voter initiative just ten years after they started.

The first Regatta went off without any issues, orderliness prevailed and the city police reported no “strong arm” behavior or even attempts at pickpocketing. Quite commendable for a crowd of nearly 20,000 visitors across the three days. Hydroplane racing returned to Coeur d’Alene in 2013, reigniting the passion for challenge racing that was sparked a century before.

For more (including 5 images), view the original article.

Download the Spokane Historical app for Android and iPhone
Find us on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube

J.C. White was an engineer who liked to party, but he was also a strong proponent of community and development. It is tough to strike the right balance, but as the history of Coeur d’Alene shows, it is possible.

Known as “a hustler, a mover and a pusher” but also a man of “great personal charm”, Joseph Clarence (J.C.) White was a man of many hats. Born just south of Omaha, in the city of Wyoming, Nebraska in 1865, JC’s family moved to Colorado when he was young. He completed a BA at the University of Denver in 1888, then followed his family over to the Idaho Panhandle for work.

He began his career as a railroad construction engineer, then moved to Latah County for surveying potential road routes through. Around 1900, he became the official surveyor for Kootenai County and moved to the Rathdrum area. After that he served a term in the Idaho House of Representatives and moved to Coeur d’Alene.

White invested in transportation. He secured $30,000 in backing from a prominent timberman and co-founded the Coeur d’Alene and St. Joe Transportation Company in 1903. He then contracted to have a 147-foot side-wheeler built at a cost of $45,000 to give the current leader of the lake, the Georgie Oakes, a run for her money. The Idaho steamship’s dockside arrivals and departures were scheduled to coincide with the new electric railroad running from Spokane to Coeur d’Alene. The transportation company soon overtook its competitors, and by 1905 had bought out many of its rivals. Once a ship joined the fleet, red bands proclaiming the new ownership were placed around the boats’ smokestacks. This led to the nickname of Red Collar Line, which officially took on the name a few years later.

White was an enthusiastic and successful promoter of the business, and had a fondness for socializing and parties. He was heavily involved in local recreational activities in the Coeur d’Alene region. He helped to found, and then lead, a local Chamber of Commerce, and encouraged the creation of other societies and associations locally.

The Red Collar Line was in its heyday until the mid-1910s, when other transportation options became readily available. In his zeal to promote the area, he weakened some of his own transportation lines. As a chairman of a commission on roads around 1920, he was instrumental in the decision to construct the first concrete-paved road in Idaho, which connected Spokane and Coeur d’Alene. The steamship line was forced into receivership in 1922, with a new owner just barely keeping it afloat until 1929 when it was sold as a log transport operation.

JC White still found ways to keep afloat after moving on from transportation activities. He continued to run a smaller boat for lake traffic until around 1930. Numerous investments in other trades also kept him busy: silver mines and banking (as an officer in a few). He was appointed to the Idaho Bureau of Highways as the maintenance supervisor for all of Northern Idaho at age 66.

White passed away April 5th, 1953 at age 88 from heart disease, and is buried in the Forest Cemetery in central Coeur d’Alene. His famous “White House” has been transformed into a living relic and will be home to the new Museum of North Idaho. Built in 1904, it is one of the last remaining original homes in Coeur d’Alene. It was one of the first buildings to grace Sherman Avenue, and has recently found a new home at the foot of Tubbs Hill, directly behind McEuen Park.

For more (including 4 images), view the original article.

Download the Spokane Historical app for Android and iPhone
Find us on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube

The first rule of business is to be careful who you partner with. The beauty of Coeur d’Alene drew attention that changed the course of history for both the Coeur d’Alene people and the inland pacific northwest.

The beautiful plot of land known to the Coeur d’Alene people as Hnya ‘(pqi’nn (pronounced “hin-yap-keehn-un”) is where Lake Coeur d’Alene and the Spokane River meet. It has been used as a gathering place for centuries.

Long before the current city or historic fort existed, this plot of land was used by the Coeur d’Alene Indians as a place for hunting, fishing, gathering and trading. The folklore of the name, according to a local historian, comes from the history of fur trading between local Indians and French fur traders which was popular at this spot. The French fur traders who frequented the area were known for trying to take advantage of their equally clever Indian trading partners, which earned them the title of “men of small hearts”. The French traders liked the sound of the title “Coeur d’Alene” which mixed the French and Indian words together, and they over time began referring to the local tribe as the Coeur d’Alenes.

In 1877 General William T. Sherman (of Civil War fame) stopped by the area on a tour of inspection of western military posts, coming from Montana across the Mullan wagon road, en route to the Columbia river with a military escort in tow. The general was so impressed with the beautiful setting that he recommended the establishment of a fort to the federal war department, saying it was “vital to have a fort in the Idaho territory” to keep peace with the local Indians, to protect railroads and prospectors heading to the nearby mountain mines, the Canadian border, and migrants coming through the country in covered wagons. On April 16th, 1878 the war department established the official Camp Coeur d’Alene settlement. With the Fort, lucrative mining and attractive lake amenities, the adjacent city of Coeur d’Alene grew. However, tribal members were driven from their gathering place to a reservation near the southern tip of Lake Coeur d’Alene.

April 6th, 1887 the name was changed to Fort Sherman in honor of the general, three years after his retirement from the US Army. The Fort can be credited with bringing a hospital, library, school, chapel and amusement hall to the city, mainly housed in one building. The Fort Sherman Chapel is Coeur d’Alene’s oldest church, school, library and meeting hall.

With soldiers from the fort stationed in Cuba for the push on San Juan Hill with Theodore Roosevelt in 1898, the Fort officially became abandoned just after the Spanish-American war on March 5, 1900. A large push was made, with local demonstrations across eastern Washington and through Idaho, to utilize the buildings at the Fort for the purpose of a national soldier’s home. A memorial had been introduced to the Senate by multiple local Senators “in order that the men who defended the country’s flag in the time of peril may have a pleasant and healthful place to spend their last days.” However, the war department decided to formally abandon the place on July 1st, 1901, removing all portable property and transferring ownership to the interior department for further disposal action. The buildings and property were sold at public auction in 1905 to developers of the area. The worry was that the fort would be razed and turned into a resort due to its location and amenities, but that development never materialized and the property sat unused and under private ownership until after the area began to emerge from the Great Depression.

The idea of establishing a college in the area began during the Great Depression, as a way to lift spirits and create new opportunities in the area. Moritz Brakemeyer roused the support of community members and local organizations, as a result of his efforts he became the first President of Coeur d’Alene Junior College. Established on August 10th, 1933 with fifty-five students enrolled and located on the third floor of city hall. The Idaho state legislature passed a bill establishing organization and funding for junior colleges in 1939, and Kootenai County taxpayers endorsed new property taxes as a means for funding the newly minted North Idaho Junior College.

In 1949 land from the former Fort Sherman was donated to the college and it officially moved locations to its current site where the Spokane River and Lake Coeur d’Alene meet. Most of the early buildings from the Fort had deteriorated. During early college construction, you could have described the remaining buildings as little shanties with attached cesspools. A bulldozer had even fallen into one of the cesspools. In 1971 the college dropped the “Junior” title out of their name, now North Idaho College.

In 1979 the Fort Sherman Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places, the former powder magazine had been converted to house the Museum of North Idaho. A handful of original buildings were set for preservation with a few scheduled for demolition, and the chapel was donated to the Museum of North Idaho in 1984 for use and preservation.

In 1997, the college joined forces with the Coeur d’Alene tribe to form the Nine Points Agreement. This agreement was created to honor the tribe and respect the whole history of the area, creating a new and inclusive gathering space for all.

For more (including 5 images), view the original article.

Download the Spokane Historical app for Android and iPhone
Find us on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube

When you hear of shipwrecks and sunken treasure, the mind automatically drifts to thoughts of pirates and the deep sea. But there is a rumor of a different kind of treasure sitting at the bottom of Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Lake Coeur d’Alene was a hotbed of steamboat activity in the late 1880s. At one time, the steamboat trade on Lake Coeur d’Alene was the greatest of any lake west of the Great Lakes. Lead and silver ore transportation made up the bulk of the steamboat traffic. D.C. Corbin built a narrow-gauge railroad to carry ore from the mines of the Silver Valley to Lake Coeur D’Alene. Two gold rush-era steamers, the Coeur d’Alene and the General Sherman, Corbin converted into ore carriers. Following the success of those boats, he built a third ship named the Kootenai to serve as an icebreaker in winter months. His system was then purchased by the Northern Pacific railroad in 1888.

In fall of 1889 two steamboats loaded with 300 tons of ore traveled downstream from Old Mission, just as the river was beginning to freeze. Captain Nisbett had difficulty navigating through the ice with two ore carriers in tow. He tied one to the river bank and continued on with the other. After the steamboat Kootenai crossed the bar at the mouth of the river into the ice-free lake around midnight, most of the crew went to bed. Fireman Fred Wilson stood watch, his main duty was to oil cylinders and answer any bells. After an uneventful watch, he happened to look out the window to see the barge riding uncomfortably low on the port side. Wilson reported to the sleeping captain, the engines were halted and a careful effort was made to head for shore about a quarter of a mile past McDonald’s Point.

The valuable ore never made it to shore. About 300 feet from shore, the barge lunged to port and the ore on that side toppled into the lake. With the tons or weight gone from the port side of the barge, the still-loaded starboard side plunged down and dumped the other half of the ore into the lake.

When the ship finally reached the shore, the crew rushed onto the barge to see only a scattering of ore across the deck. Fifteen thousand dollars of silver ore had disappeared beneath the waters of Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Efforts were made to recover the treasure. The Northern Pacific Railroad brought in a diver, who determined the ore had sunk to a depth of between 60-100 feet and the cost of recovery would be more than it was worth.

This left the ore a fair prize for anyone who could raise it. Fred Wilson, who knew the exact spot, teamed up with another man to try their hand at dredging up the ore sacks. Both quit their jobs, collected some basic equipment, and built themselves a log raft for the task. Working at it for three or four days, they successfully raised an ore truck, a locomotive headlight and plenty of canvas chunks--but little to no ore. In 1951 the story was brought back to life by a local newspaper columnist Clement Wilkins. An old steamboat engineer who recalled the spot Wilson had often pointed out shared that he thought that use of modern diving equipment might make the salvage comparatively easy. A local salvage diver made plans to recover the treasure--but landed in jail on unrelated matters and never made the dive.

In the summer of 1985, a Seattle dive team searched near McDonald Point, but found nothing. As much as 10 feet of silt has built up over the site since the sinking. No “X” marks the spot, and nobody is left that can give exact directions. But we do know that a fortune in silver lies, somewhere, beneath the cold waters of Lake Coeur d’Alene.

For more (including 2 images), view the original article.

Download the Spokane Historical app for Android and iPhone
Find us on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube

Today we have heli-skiing for the true adventurers who want to tackle untamed powder, but in the early 1900s it took real ingenuity to access downhill ski areas off the beaten path. Located in the middle of nowhere, Lookout Pass only exists because of the Northern Pacific Railroad and the Mullan Road.

Lookout Pass was part of the first big boom of National Ski areas in the US in the early 20th Century. The ski area was said to have been first used by a group of Scandinavians local to the Idaho/Montana border area, who use Northern Pacific Freight Cars to access the alpine ski area. Officially established as an alpine skiing area in 1935, a tow rope was installed in 1936 using car parts from an abandoned wreck on the old Yellowstone Highway (now known as I-90) nearby. Lookout is located in the Northern Rocky Mountains at the crest of the Bitterroot Range.

On February 24th, 1938 it was officially opened to the public by the Idaho Ski Club under the name Lookout Pass Ski Area. In true Idaho humor, a highway maintenance shed was nicknamed the “Buzzard’s Roost” and served as a warming hut for adventurers on the pass with its pot-belly stove and homemade soups and sandwiches.

The historic base lodge was built in 1941 with help from the Civilian Construction Corps, commissioned by the US Forest Service. The lodge was dedicated on December 7th, 1941. It became the second oldest ski lodge in the Pacific Northwest, second only to the Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood in Oregon. The lodge seen today at the resort has received a number of updates and expansions, but the center core of the building is the original lodge.

In the 1950’s the lift tickets were only $.50, but keep in mind that and the lodge itself was quite small and the pass still operated the rope tow. The first chairlift was built in 1980. The pass received financing from several Silver Valley mining companies with the goal of use of the area for recreation by their employees.

The Lookout Pass ski patrol is also one of the first few registered National Ski Patrol members in the nation, with registration number 009 and now over 75 years of service. Lookout’s Famous Free Ski School for children ages 6 to 17 was founded in 1942 by the Lookout Pass Free Ski School organization. Since it’s opening, it has introduced well over 60,000 children to the world of skiing and snowboarding and is the longest running ski school of its kind.

With the mining industry in decline in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, a group of locals banded together to keep Lookout open with the reduction in finances. It became a commercial venture in 1991 and was acquired by Lookout Associates LLC and began its expansion to the present day.

Lookout Pass is on the divide that creates the Idaho – Montana state line. The ski area is one of three national ski areas where skiers can ski in two states. They get an average of 400 feet of annual snowfall and are widely known for their powder skiing. The resort is currently in process of another expansion which will brush shoulders with another piece of local history, the Mullan Road.

For more (including 5 images), view the original article.

Download the Spokane Historical app for Android and iPhone
Find us on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube

All ski areas have many ups and downs in their history, not just in relation to lift operations up and down the mountain. But the Jackass Ski Resort has had more downs than ups in its lifetime. It is safe to say that it has only survived because of the communities that love it, both the local ones and from a distance.

Originally named “Jackass Ski Bowl” in honor of Bill the $12,000,000 burro who accidentally assisted in the founding of the Bunker Hill Mine near Kellogg. The ski area is located on lands leased from the Bunker Hill Mining Company, and is directly above some of the underground work areas. The original discovery site is not far from the bottom terminal of the ski lift. It was the brain child of the “Fabulous Valley Development Corporation” who sold shares of stock in the corporation to fund the building of the area. Many valley residents excitedly purchased stock with cash or traded work for shares of stock in the company to support the effort. The original ski area consisted of one Riblet chairlift serving 2 mountain ski bowls (Wardner Peak and Kellogg Peak), with a capacity of 900 skiers per hour, and the Tamarack Lodge was designed by local Coeur d’Alene architect Robert Nelson. The striking design of the lodge includes a roof that slants in almost every direction, designed to channel falling snow away from areas used by skiers. Opening day was December 16th, 1967 and many local big names attended the festivities. Due to a delay in the arrival of parts the lift was not in operation until December 23rd, along with plans for two rope tows near the lodge for beginner skiers.

The first few seasons were promising, with some plans for ski lift expansion. But following the poor fifth and sixth seasons, the area was liquidated in a foreclosure sale in 1973 and acquired by the Bunker Hill Mining Company for $100,100. The Shoshone Recreation Company, the subsidiary of Bunker Hill that was set to run the ski area, changed the name to Silverhorn as a nod to the Silberhorn ski area in the Bernese Alps. They built the cat shop that can still be seen from midway chair 4 today. But with the turbulent early history of labor disputes and the collapse of the mining economy in the late 70s/early 80s, they were forced to close the ski area in 1981.

Bunker Hill Limited, formed by Jack Simplot, Duane Hagadone, Harry F. Magnason and Jack Kendrick, bought the faltering ski area. It became quickly apparent that the cost of operation was more than the income generated, and in 1983 they began looking for another buyer for the ski area.

Silverhorn was accessed by a difficult and dangerous twisting mountain road, which climbed over 2,700 feet in just seven miles with an average grade of over seven percent. The road begins on the main street of Wardner, then follows the old Sierra Nevada road which was used by ore wagons in the early days, then winds around the mountain to the three-story, 10,000 square foot lodge. Bunker Hill Ltd paid $35,000 a year just for plowing to keep the road accessible for visitors. The Silver Valley cannot afford to lose another business, both for monetary reasons and local morale. So, in 1984 an arrangement was made between Bunker Hill Ltd and the city of Kellogg that allowed the city to operate the ski area in exchange for the payment of all property taxes levied against the ski area land. With the city managing road maintenance it would not make the ski area profitable, but it would reduce the yearly losses to a more manageable rate. The cost of an adult lift ticket increased from $12 to $14 for the first time since the ski area opened, but this was a happy exchange, allowing the operation cost to slow its rise while still affording the ability to keep the ski area open.

If the ski area was to attract more tourism affordably, a better way of reaching the mountain was sorely necessary. City Councilman Wayne Ross introduced a profound new idea: constructing a gondola from the valley floor up to an expanded ski and summer resort. This change could breathe new life into the area and stimulate a staggering economy, recently devastated by the loss of local mining and logging jobs. The Gondola Board applied for a grant from Congress to assist in the construction of the gondola, and in December 1987 they were awarded a $6.4 million dollar grant for the area. September of 1988, the city of Kellogg voted to tax itself $2 million ($100,000 per year for 20 years) to help fund the new endeavor. The state government of Idaho and Washington Water Power Company also assisted with funding. The Von Roll Tramways, a Swiss lift manufacturing company, then agreed to guarantee the remaining funds needed for gondola construction.

April 25, 1989, construction on the “new” Silverhorn began. The original Jackass chair was renamed to Chair 4, plus the addition of 4 new chair lines and an assortment of other new expansions. The resort reopened with a brand new name of Silver Mountain in July 1989. In he city of Kellogg decided to redecorate and mimic the Bavarian alpine feel of Leavenworth, Washington. They added in murals, gingerbread trim and other design elements to the buildings and businesses around town. The new decoration was a heartfelt effort, but did not end up providing much benefit for tourism.

The world’s longest single-stage gondola opened on June 30th, 1990. It runs for 3.1 miles and climbs over 1000 meters (3400 feet) for nearly twenty minutes. There are longer gondolas in the world, but those either use “angle stations” or aren’t solely for carrying people. Unfortunately, there was significant spending beyond the original budget for the construction phase of the project and it lead to an insurmountable debt load for the city of Kellogg. The city council decided to search for a new owner and in June 1996 sold the assets to Eagle Crest, Inc (a subsidiary of Jen-Weld Corp).

Eagle Crest had some new and exciting ideas for the area and rushed to begin planning and construction. They envisioned a ski-in, ski-out resort village, and set out to construct the Morning Star Lodge condominiums, the Galena Golf Course, and the Silver Rapids Waterpark. Over the next decade they were met with success on all of their projects except for the ski-in, ski-out village. However, the financial crisis of 2008 took its toll on the resort and it was officially listed for sale. They budgeted to keep it open and operating year-round for a short term until a sale was made, still leaving room for improvements like revamping the bike park and reopening to the public in 2013. In October 2016 Silver Mountain was purchased for $5 million by Tryg Fortun, a Seattle-area businessman and Silver Mountain season pass holder. In total, Silver Mountain currently has 73 named trails covering 1,600 acres of skiable terrain, five chairlifts and 2,200 feet of vertical served by seven lifts. Will the resort finally be able to operate in the black? That history has not yet unfolded.

For more (including 5 images), view the original article.

Download the Spokane Historical app for Android and iPhone
Find us on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube

Tubbs Hill overlooks the City of Coeur d'Alene. It is situated between the lake, the resort and the rest of downtown Coeur d'Alene. It is purely a lucky mistake that the hill became a public park instead of a residential area, and for that we can thank Tony Tubbs for his poor planning.

German born Tony Tubbs was a prominent figure of the late 1800's in Coeur d'Alene. Tubbs was a land salesman, a hotel owner and a justice of the peace during his time in the area. In 1884 Tubbs bought 138 acres of land next to Lake Coeur d'Alene. A popular sales method for land plots in mostly undeveloped areas is to assume the buyer has not and might not see it before purchase, and describe it to them as if it is flat land ready to be built on or to plot it out as if it is an ideal settlement spot. Tubbs did just that, he platted it out for multiple residential neighborhoods and peddled it to unfamiliar settlers. Some of the details he did not mention were that the hill was solid rock and would be unable to be built on with the tools available in the late 1800s; also the change in elevation from the base of the hill to the top is over 375 feet on an eight to thirty degree grade.

Tubbs was successful with a few sales. Washington Water Power Co purchased the south shore and east half of the hill in the early 1900s to create a water system for the city. The first major structure built on the hill was a large concrete reservoir for lake water in 1903. In 1949 a second reservoir was built out of steel to accommodate the growing population. Coeur d'Alene Lumber Co purchased the rest of the waterfront sections and operated a saw mill on the land directly below the hill (the area that is now McEuen Field). But the depression era hit the Idaho panhandle hard, and the lumber mill went bankrupt. In 1936 the city purchased the mill property for use as a public park and a building site for municipal water and electric power plants. The objective was to put two large diesel engines at the base of the hill to provide power for the local area. This plan put Washington Water Power Co into an uproar, as they were the current utility providers for the area. After denial of federal funding and a few lawsuits against the city, Washington Water Power Co got their way and no power plant was to be built.

In the 1920s a grandstand was built on the hill to view the sailboat races of the summertime. In the 1960s hydroplane races became popular. Hydroplane races caused too much excitement for the general public, and began to give the area a bad reputation. So they were eventually cancelled and banned from the area. If you look closely on the south east corner of the hill, the only remnants of the grandstand can be seen, five solitary concrete blocks.

During World War II, the park directly below was briefly housing for Farragut Naval Station, and a civic center was constructed. But one summer Saturday night in 1944 the civic center burned down, the city saved the money to rebuild a civic center but it has never been rebuilt. Farragut closed after the war and the housing was torn down, leaving only an empty dirt field. The city decided to purchase the field and set it aside for a public park, the first section of the Tubbs Hill area to be publicly preserved for a park. In later years the remainder of the hill would be purchased by the city for public use, but only after a long struggle with developers using the poorly laid out plats designed by Tony Tubbs.

For more (including 6 images), view the original article.

Download the Spokane Historical app for Android and iPhone
Find us on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube

In Spokane as elsewhere, waterpower was the driving force behind industrial development. The dam and powerhouse at Nine Mile Falls are key pieces of Spokane history. This dam and its builder, Jay P. Graves, provided power for streetcars, electric lights, and factories of early Spokane.

Graves was an industrious man with an entrepreneurial spirit. He came to Spokane in 1887 and speculated in real estate. He profited during the stock market crashes of 1892, investing in other industries in the Spokane area, such as railroads and streetcars. In 1902 Graves purchased The Spokane & Montrose, the first motorized street railway in Spokane. He renamed it the Spokane Traction Company. Graves's new company purchased power from Washington Water Power, who held a monopoly on the sale of power to the area and was a competitor in the railway business.

Graves decided to establish his own electric utility, The Spokane and Inland Empire Power Company. He purchased a site on the Spokane River about nine miles north of the city and put his plan into motion. The Nine Mile Falls Dam was sixty feet high and built at a cost of between $800,000 and $1,000,000. Construction was completed in 1908.

The power harnessed from Nine Mile Falls was used to power Grave's electric interurban railways, which eventually grew to serve much of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho. By 1907 Graves's railway system operated on over two-hundred miles of track radiating from Spokane. By 1912 the lines stretched two-hundred and fifty miles. These railways, powered by the Nine Mile Dam ushered in the modern era of Spokane, placing it in line with many of the more developed larger cities in the United States.

Graves sold off his interest in the plant in 1911 and it was purchased by the Washington Water Power Company in the mid-1920s. He kept his railroad holdings, but the battle for hydroelectric power was won by the Washington Power Company.

Collectively the complex is one of the best preserved historic power sites in the state. The original generators are still in use. It is even listed in the national Register of Historic Places. The Dam was modernized in 1950, but still retains many original working elements.

For more (including 4 images), view the original article.

Download the Spokane Historical app for Android and iPhone
Find us on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube

"Like the pyramids of Egypt and Grand Coulee dam, Spokane's mammoth concrete and steel structure, the municipal Coliseum, has been built to last," pronounced the Spokane Daily Chronicle on December 3, 1954, the day of Spokane Coliseum's grand opening.

Before 1954, Spokane had no set venue for large events such as music concerts or professional sports. The National Guard Armory (now the Laser Quest building), was Spokane's largest indoor venue, which meant seating was limited. The interest in building a large auditorium for events began in 1925, but one plan after another failed. In the spring of 1951 the public finally said yes to a ballot measure to give Spokane its coliseum.

The Coliseum had the unofficial nickname of "The Boone Street Barn" due to its location on Boone Street and the prior land use mainly as farmland. The land was purchased by the city for $20,000 from Mrs. Emma Rue. The site was originally a large rock pile, surrounded by farm land. Development of the site required extensive blasting and landscaping. Construction began in September 1953, it was completed a year later with the total cost at $2,500,000.

The dedication of the Spokane Coliseum was headed by Patrice Munsel from the Metropolitan Opera of New York City along with the Spokane Philharmonic Orchestra, who beautifully demonstrated the perfect acoustics of the new building to the 8,000 attendees. The city planned a thirteen-day dedication celebration due to the excitement surrounding the new Coliseum.

The Coliseum had a good run. It featured some of Spokane's top entertainment from 1953 until 1989, including Elvis Presley in 1973 and Kiss in 1977. It was home to the Spokane Chiefs hockey team, and hosted Gonzaga University basketball games. 1990 brought the International Goodwill Games to Spokane, drawing athletes from around the world.

As concerts grew larger in the 1980s, the once-capacious Coliseum began to look small. Artists such as Cher, ZZ Top and New Kids on the Block declined to perform in spokane because they could not sell as many tickets as in cities with larger venues. The Coliseum began to look old as well as small. There were water stains on the ceiling and walls and the ice-making system was unreliable.

Despite the opening-day predictions that they Coliseum would last as long as the pyramids, wrecking balls swung in 1995. All that remains of the once-mighty Spokane Coliseum is this parking lot, which serves the new Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena.

For more (including 6 images), view the original article.

Download the Spokane Historical app for Android and iPhone
Find us on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube

Regionally known as the largest amusement park in the Inland Northwest, Silverwood has a long and varied history as an airport, an air museum, and finally a place of roller coasters and waterslides. The story begins with a man named Clayton Henley.

Clayton "Clay" Henley was the founder of the Henley Aerodrome, a private airport and antique plane museum just south of Athol in Northern Idaho. Henley opened the airport in July 1973, it became known as the black sheep of local airfields and the local Spokane flying schools forbade their students from using it. When Henley died in 1977 there were many small parcel owners of the airfield, in order to save the airfield they ended up selling all of it to Gary Norton.

Norton was an entrepreneur who made a fortune with his company ISC (International Systems Corporation), one of IBM's early competitors. Norton had the time and the space to focus more on his passion of collecting and flying antique aircraft such as the P-51 Mustang. Tragically, on July 28th 1981 the museum hangar storing many of his prized collectible airplanes caught fire. Norton rebuilt the hangar and began collecting again, but the air museum never recovered.

Norton began to shift the focus of his attraction with a new addition to the museum. A 1915 steam train and over three miles of track were added to the property. He then decided that any train needs a town to run through. This prompted the building of a Victorian style town, Main Street and the beginning of Silverwood.

Silverwood officially opened as an amusement park in June 20, 1988. The first year of operation brought in 110,000 visitors. Norton slowly began adding a variety of attractions to the park, such as the corkscrew roller coaster, purchased from Knotts Berry Farm in California.

There are other attractions that are no longer featured at the park, but drew many excited park guests. An early feature of Silverwood was their daily half-hour air shows performed at 7:00pm each evening, air shows were performed from the time the park opened until 1996. A full grown African lion named Leonard was purchased, along with a variety of other wild cats and animals. After some problems with the wild nature of the animals and some escape antics, it was decided that the large cats must go. The now vacant aircraft museum housed a Silverwood on Ice show briefly, produced and directed by Norton. It attracted top talent from across the globe, including Olympic medalists and a Russian world championship skater.

For more (including 7 images), view the original article.

Download the Spokane Historical app for Android and iPhone
Find us on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube