The main challenge for farming in the Spokane Valley was supplementing the meager local rain fall with manmade irrigation systems. Gravity ditches, such as the Corbin Ditch, formed the core of early efforts in this area. Developers understood that once irrigation was provided, the price of land would skyrocket, and so constructed irrigation ditches to serve their developments.

The earliest of these irrigation projects was the Corbin Ditch. This ditch was the brain child of W.L. Benham, whose previous work with the Great Northern Railway developing land made him well suited for this endeavor. His main financier was local railroad magnate Daniel C. Corbin, for whom the ditch is named. Work began in 1899 and continued for the next decade, although small tracts of land were receiving water from the ditch as early as 1901.

The ditch originated at a head gate located on the Spokane River in the town of Post Falls, Idaho. From there it snaked through 34 miles at a constant grade and then on to 54 miles of lateral canals. In this way the ditch provided several thousands of acres of apple orchards the necessary irrigation they needed to operate.

By the late 1940s however the ditch's constant need of repairs made it prohibitively expensive to operate. It was also not able to keep up with the growing demand of water from the rapidly expanding suburban population in the valley. New utility districts relied upon cheaper and more productive wells, leaving the ditch to slowly decay. In 2005 restoration of the original head gate in Post Falls was completed, as a lasting monument to the intrepid settlers in the Valley.

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Among the earliest signs of white settlement in the Spokane Valley was the construction of churches and cemeteries, and St Joseph's Church & Cemetery is the earliest in the Spokane Valley. The original structure was built in 1892 by Catholic settlers, but the cemetery had been in use for years before hand. St. Joseph's greeted early settlers as they arrived in the valley.

For several decades the church did not have a regular parish priest as the location was too remote and the congregation too few. But by the early 1920s the Valley's population had grown considerably, and the first permanent priest was assigned to the location. An extensive fire completely destroyed the old church in 1928, but it was faithfully reconstructed the following year. The newly reconstructed building was maintained and occupied by the steadily expanding parish for much of the remaining century. By 1992 a need for a larger church drove the parish to construct a modern and larger church in nearby Otis Orchards.

Nowadays the church and cemetery are maintained as funeral chapel. The grounds are carefully maintained to reflect the extensive landscaping work that was set up by the original parish. In addition to the picturesque grounds there is a extraordinary monument to St. Joseph on the hill behind. Stonework stairs lead to the shrine, which was hand built by parishioner Henry Arbes in the mid 1950s. It depicts the church's namesake as well as an outdoor Stations of the Cross and gives visitors spectacular views of the valley and church grounds below.

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In the early 1900s development of the Spokane Valley was driven by land speculators. With a modest investment into infrastructure and a far flung advertising campaign, small land management companies believed they could turn otherwise low-value land into productive and profitable agricultural property. One such speculative venture was the Vera Electric Water Company, responsible for this handsome stone structure.

The Vera Electric Water Company was established in 1908 by Donald K. McDonald, a local real estate entrepreneur. Among McDonald's other business ventures was the very similar Modern Electric Water Company, and the town of Opportunity. McDonald named his new company after his daughter. He gave potential buyers free tours of the now-irrigated land in an open topped automobile at blistering speeds of 35 miles per hour. Forty acre tracts sold for $600. As the land filled up with apple orchards, the town of Vera was incorporated.

Pump houses, such as this one, were hand built using stones dug up during the construction of ditches, these stones were also used in early local houses. The pump itself lies nearly one hundred feet below ground. Each pump operated continuously to provide the necessary irrigation, with electricity provided by the Washington Water Power Company. Vera operates to this day, though it no longer serves the agricultural sector.

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The economy of Washington is tightly connected to the vast hydroelectric development of the state. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the federal government laid the framework for a series of hydroelectric dams harnessing the immense water power of the Columbia River. When the first of these, the Bonneville Dam, came on line in 1938 it helped the Pacific Northwest to diversify its economic base from timber and agriculture to manufacturing. Aluminum was one of the first new industries.

This strong and light weight metal quickly became important during the Second World War, where it was used in aircraft such as the B-17 Flying Fortress and the P-51 Mustang and also in naval vessels such as Liberty ships. The first aluminum rolling plant at Trentwood produced millions of square feet of rolled aluminum during the war. After the war the plant was sold to The Permanente Metals Company, forerunner of the Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation.

Post-war economic prosperity helped drive the continued expansion of the aluminum industry in the Pacific Northwest, and cemented Kaiser's role in the region as a modernizing force. By 1950 nearly half of national output of aluminum was produced in Washington. The Trentwood plant was remodeled beginning in the 1970s to keep it competitive edge in the emerging global market. Labor disputes in the 1980s caused the shutdown of other local Kaiser plants, but the Trentwood facility remained open. Today the plant is still in operation and a recent major overhaul improved its viability in today's hyper competitive global market.

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