Young cities in the 1900s, especially those who were recovering from post-fire downtown, exercised freedom and ingenuity when it came to rebuilding Spokane's infrastructure. New technologies allowed for a variety of options resulting in taller buildings and attractive amenities. Wealthy businessmen and young architects quickly partnered to put their individual marks on Spokane's cityscape. After the first decade, space grew increasingly scarce. The Raznik Building is a great demonstration of how resourceful these innovative professional could be.The structure in front of you is a simple sixteen feet wide and one hundred feet deep, the building fills a site that was formerly an alley. It is wedged in between the historic Robertson Building and the Morgan Block.

The Raznik Building was the smallest fireproof building in Spokane. The property was owned by Max Raznik and was built in 1912, at an estimated cost of $20,000. Typical for this kind of building, the first floor was used for retail and the upper floors were divided into private rooms. This tiny building has been home to several various businesses including Bob's Chili Palace and Dr. Hahn, who was a Physician and Surgeon. More recently, the Raznik Building has been incorporated into the Robertson Building for the Glen Dow Beauty School, and public facilities were added.

Joseph Levesque designed the Raznik Building. Levesque was a popular choice for the time to be the designer behind Mr. Raznik's vision. After creating a few independent buildings, Levesque partnered with another well-known Spokane architect Alfred Jones. Jones and Levesque put their skilled artistic touches on many significant Spokane structure including the First Baptist Church, the Kemp and Hebert Building and the Rochester Apartments.

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Frederick C. Robertson bought this land in 1912. The three-story building is embellished with coupled windows, flat brick and Florentine arches, belt courses of red and white bricks and a projecting cornice supported by scrolled brackets. The interior of the building has been extensively remodeled to accommodate the current tenant, a salon.

F.C. Robertson was born in Louisiana in 1865. He came from a very affluent family that had a tradition of graduating from both Louisiana State University and Georgetown Law School. Robertson could have had no idea that shortly after his move to Spokane, he would defend the Western Miners during one of the most influential cases in Idaho's history.

In the late 1800s, disputes between miner unions and mine owners in the Northwest were frequent and violent, especially in Idaho. Low wages, even longer hours and dangerous working conditions were a common complaint of laborers. To achieve more reasonable conditions unions were formed and strikes ensued. F.C. Robertson represented the miners from Wardner, Id who went on strike to dispute their formidable working conditions. In retaliation to their lost laborers, mine owners imported non-union men and hired armed guards. The Governor heightened the ever sensitive situation by dispatching the National Guard and instituting martial law. Hundreds of laborers were arrested and put into "bullpens," which confined an unimaginable number of men into incredibly tight quarters. Robertson proved in the courts that it was unconstitutional to arrest these miners. Subsequently, all the prisoners were freed, their sentences were reversed, and martial law in the Coeur d'Alenes ended with a ruling by President McKinley.

Architect Kirtland K. Cutter designed the Robertson Building. He is also the artists behind the Davenport Hotel, Washington Water Power Building, Spokane Club, Sherwood Building, the Monroe Street Bridge and several more.

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Until the late 1900's, when it was demolished, this site housed the architecturally interesting Hyde Building and Annex. The six-story Hyde Building was constructed in 1890 to house office spaces and the U.S. District Court. It replaced an older building that was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1889. The Romanesque-inspired Hyde is constructed of red brick with granite, sandstone, and terra cotta trim. The building featured a parapet that said "Hyde."

The seven-story Hyde Annex occupied a tight space that was formerly used as an alley way. The Annex was constructed because the Hyde building needed additional room. Another fire destroyed the site in 1958. Everyone in the building made it out thanks to an elevator operator who kept his machine working until everyone was safe.

The Hyde family was a prominent family in early Spokane. Involved in real estate and civic activities, the brothers Samuel C. Hyde and Eugene B. Hyde especially left a mark on the city. Samuel C. Hyde arrived in Spokane early in l879. E. B. Hyde was the City Marshall of Spokane, Chief of Police, Chief of the Volunteer Fire Department and a state Senator. During the economic depression in 1893, he suffered grave financial losses. Several prominent buildings in Spokane during the 1880s were financed by E. B. Hyde and he was able to recover his wealth.

The architect for the structure in front of you was William J. Carpenter. Carpenter spent only three years in Spokane, 1888-1891, but made his mark on the city nonetheless. The seven-story Annex that was built in 1908, was designed by Albert Held. Held arrived in Spokane and quickly found work with the firm Herman Preusse. Held designed many other Spokane buildings, including the Holly-Mason Building, the Home Telephone and Telegraph Building, Knickerbockers Apartments, Breslin Apartments and the James Clark mansion.

From 1890 to 1915, a saloon could be found on almost every corner of the raucous city. Hyde's saloon was one of 90 in Spokane. By 1916, laws against drinking were enforced nationwide and Spokane's spirited night life was hit hard. Soon thereafter, the saloons in the Hyde Building were removed and remodeled.

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Originally, the building in front of you was a wood frame structure that was occupied by a saloon and gaming hall. The saloon, along with almost all its neighbors, was destroyed by the fire of 1889. The huge fire of 1889 brought modern technology to the city like new fire retardant building materials and load bearing reinforced concrete walls. This building was built in 1890 and remains one of Spokane's oldest Commercial Style structures. The storefront, for the most part, looks exactly like it did upon completion. Canvas awnings that were added later to shade the merchandise bays are really the only cosmetic difference. Inside the Hill Brothers Building you will find 20 foot ceiling, an interior light well, and a mezzanine that distinguishes the first and second floors.

The property was purchased in 1909 for $100,000 by a mining engineer. In 1912, that same investor, William Linney, rented the building to Jacob Hill. After Hill retired in 1930, the store was occupied by various shoe and clothing stores. The building was then occupied by a number of different purposes including a law firm and a "rave." In 2000, Spokane businessmen Jack White and Bob Runkle bought the building and quickly completed a rehabilitation of the commercial block. The businessmen hired Spokane contractor S. G. Morin and Son, Inc. and Texan architect Joseph Herrin to complete their vision.

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In 1889 a great fire swept across the fledging city of Spokane destroying most of the city's downtown. Many of the buildings hastily built after the fire were not of the best quality, workmanship, or materials. Of the 150 buildings that were built in the year following the fire, only ten remain. This building is the oldest. Originally named the Bodie Block this was a Single Room Occupancy that housed workers in the railroad, lumber, agriculture and mining industries. SRO's offered affordable private rooms that were meagerly furnished, and the concept was not unique to Spokane. Indeed, examples abound in major cities all over the United States.

Bodie Block was initially a modern design with references to Romanesque Revival. The building's three symmetrical bays that are dominated by a centered arched window is a great example of this popular design. Above the second floor, "1889" is carved into a sandstone panel. In 1974, due to the popular inscription on the structure, the Bodie Block was renamed the 1889 building.

The builders, and original owners of the block, were Richard T. Daniel, Antone Traut, and Eugene Chamberlin. Their stories are a window into the lives of early Spokane movers and shakers. Richard Daniel came to Spokane in a covered wagon in 1879. At the time of his death in 1949, he still owned several downtown buildings in Spokane. Antone Traut was born in Germany. He followed the gold rush trail west, which eventually led him to Spokane in 1883. Traut made money from mining in Montana and California. Mr. and Mrs. Pounder bought Bodie Block in 1973. The old building was an enjoyable project for the owners of Pounder's Jewelry. Their mission was to bring back the original idea of the building.

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This towering structure of brick was one of the first to be built following the Great Fire of 1889. The Bump Block, constructed in 1890, is a seven-story Commercial Style infused with more classical features. This historic building enjoyed a couple of good decades, but fell on hard times during the nationwide economic collapse of 1903. John Hieber, a Spokane businessman, bought the property from the bank 5 years after its foreclosure and expanded the hotel within the year to accommodate the increasing demand for Single Occupancy Rooms in Spokane. If you walk to the west side of the building, you can see the faint line that distinguishes the 1890 construction from the 1909 addition.

The Carlyle Hotel was an early SRO in Spokane. An SRO or single room occupancy is a low cost multiple-tenant building that houses one or two people in individual rooms. SRO tenants, typically working men, shared public bathrooms and kitchens. Due to its severe narrow construction, the Carlyle Hotel has no central light well or ventilation system. This flaw, however, is compensated by the interior rooms' access to exterior windows, a luxury for SROs at this time. These specific storefronts have been occupied almost continuously since 1929 with various grocery markets, restaurants and saloons. Carlyle Personal Care Center, who offers housing services to senior citizens, occupies the structure currently.

This building was designed by a team of well-known local architects. Loren L. Rand and John K. Dow designed the original structure. Herman Preusse and Julius Zittel designed the addition. Rand was born in Massachusetts in 1851. He moved to Spokane in 1888, where he designed luxurious houses and a number of commercial and educational structures. John K Dow was from Minnesota. He came to Spokane in 1889 to take advantage of the opportunities the fire unfortunately presented. Dow is the artist behind many influential buildings in the city. Julius Zittel was born in Germany and came to America at the age of thirteen. Zittel partnered with Herman Preusse, also a German immigrant, and together also designed numerous prominent buildings in Spokane.

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Fire constantly threatened early Spokane. The city suffered a major conflagration in 1889, but many smaller fires have struck over the years. The Peyton Building was built to replace the Great Eastern Building, which was destroyed by a fire on January 24, 1898. The arid basement of John W. Graham & Co. caught fire. For a store that sold books, stationery, office supplies, wallpaper, and photographic equipment it did not take long until it was engulfed in flames. Seven people died. Not much of the Great Eastern Building was left, except for some external walls and unrecognizable columns. These charred remains were revitalized and incorporated into the construction of the new building in 1898.

The new owner, "Colonel" Isaac N. Peyton had a fascinating life. He was born in 1842 in Illinois and was a lieutenant during the Civil War. He traveled to Spokane in 1881, abandoning his wife back east, and was soon successfully invested in real estate and mining. After purchasing the charred remains of the Great Eastern Building, Peyton hired one of Spokane's premier architectural firms, Cutter & Malmgren, to make his dream a reality. Peyton was not a modest man and his building reflects that. If you look directly above the main entrance, "Peyton," is carved on the structures frieze and his initial "P" is engraved into each pilaster.

The Peyton Annex was built in 1908 as an addition to the seven-story Peyton Building. Designed by architect Robert C. Sweatt, the two buildings were designed to basically be one structure. Known as the "million-dollar corner," this demanding site in front of you has built a reputation as a high end commercial building. The storefronts have been altered by numerous tenants over the decades. In 1988-89 the building underwent restoration in hopes to attract more tenants. The Peyton Building and Peyton Annex is one of several large historic commercial buildings still in use today in Spokane's downtown.

For more information on the fascinating life of Peyton, listen to the audio file of local historian, Jim Price, included on this stop.

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Much like Henry Sorg who saw the need for inexpensive housing and built the Globe Hotel in 1908, Spokane real estate developer Daniel Morgan hired architect Alfred Jones to design the Fairmont Hotel in 1909. Also like the Globe Hotel, this Single Room Occupancy Hotel located on the Morgan Block, was occupied almost immediately after its completion. According to a Census Record from 1910, men from distances as far as Pennsylvania, New York, Germany, Sweden, England, and Canada rented rooms at this structure. The men were young, mostly unmarried laborers.

A typical SRO had street level commercial bays with rooms up above. A Single Room Occupancy is a multiple tenant building that houses one or two people in individual rooms. SRO tenants typically had their own bed, closet and sink, and then shared a bathroom and a kitchen. The Fairmont was in operation for over 90 years, making it one of the oldest SROs in town. The Fairmont originally had 140 single occupancy rooms and each room had a window that could be opened for fresh air. In 1943, through a federal relief program, the Morgan Block provided temporary housing for veterans of World War II. When the government no longer had a need for the building, it was turned into an apartment complex and renamed the Fairmont Apartments.

The owner, Daniel Morgan was born in Oregon in 1869. After moving to Spokane, he became a Washington State Senator and prominent local property developer. Morgan ensured his wealth by making the wise decision to invest in Coeur d'Alene mining operations. Architects Whitehouse and Price designed a spectacular home for the Morgan's at 242 Manito Place.

This structure is six-stories of 18-inch-thick load-bearing walls. Due to a drop in grade, one side of the building has five-stories, and the other, six. Just above you is a centered, recessed panel that says "MORGAN." This is a replica of the original panel. In 1941, the Morgan Block was damaged by a fire and much of it was destroyed. The structure was then repaired, only to fall victim to another fire in 1999.

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Built in 1908, Kemp & Hebert Building represents a style of construction that was extremely popular in Spokane for the time. While many new buildings were adopting the new technology of steel-supported frames or reinforced concrete, the architect of the Kemp & Herbert chose the more common wooden and masonry frame. The building was designed by architect Alfred Jones, who came to Spokane in 1899, at the age of 27. He opened his own firm in 1904, working with architectural greats like Alonzo J. Grover and J. T. Levesque.

The Kemp & Hebert Building was one of Spokane's first department stores. Charles Kemp and Henry Hebert, among thousands of others, were drawn to Spokane's stimulated post fire economy. The company quickly grew into one of the largest retail and wholesale dry goods businesses in the Northwest. From 1925 to 1935, Kemp & Herbert bought and absorbed other retail stores throughout the region.

A young orphaned Charles J. Kemp, who had once found himself selling newspapers in Michigan, moved to Spokane in the mid-1880s and quickly became very wealthy. Mr. Kemp became president of the Kemp & Hebert corporation, and held investments across Eastern Washington and into Canada. Hebert came to Spokane from Illinois in 1889, became president after Kemp died and held that position until he retired in 1940.

The four-story building covered in red pressed brick with a glazed terracotta trim can be categorized as both Neo-Classical and Commercial Style design. The structural architectural elaboration is symmetrical in design, from its fenestration and window spandrels to its projecting cornice. The street level consists of five store fronts, including Auntie's Bookstore, who funded a renovation of the building. This local bookstore has been a Spokane gem since 1978.

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Like most new western cities, Spokane was home to many fraternal organizations. Fraternal organizations were a type of social organization whose members united for beneficial purpose. These societies were dedicated to the professional, intellectual, physical, and social development of its members and community. It was estimated that at one point in Spokane one-seventh of the men and women belonged to one or more of these societies.

A sect of the Odd Fellowship settled in Spokane in 1880. Odd Fellows membership required belief in an all-knowing, creator God. Members had to demonstrate an ethical character and could not be engaged in the "liquor business." Why the name Odd Fellows? This cannot be answered definitively, but some scholarship suggests that aligning themselves together and forming a secret society during that era was odd. The name could also originate because all the men in the Fellowship had odd trades. The Odd Fellowship does not date back to Roman times, contrary to popular belief, but from late 18th Century England.

The Odd Fellows IOOF Lodge is a three-story red brick building with the letters, "IOOF," etched into a flat frieze. The building includes a ballroom on the first floor, a billiard room on the second and a mezzanine on the third. The Odd Fellows IOOF Lodge was designed by the famous Albert Held. To learn more about Albert Held check out stories on the "Amman Apartments" and "San Marco Apartments."

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On December 31, 1886, Spokane had its first telephone exchange and an infrastructure for the technology was established. Thaddeus Lane, an entrepreneur from Ohio, was responsible for the exchange found himself in need of a headquarters. Lane quickly hired the now famous Spokane architect, Albert Held, to design a building to house his promising company. The site that the Home Telephone & Telegraph Company set up shop in was formerly occupied by three frame buildings that were all connected. In 1890, these adjacent wood buildings were used by grocery markets, warehouses and restaurants.

This new telephone communication center was a first for the city of Spokane. Companies of this stature were known for over-the-top grand openings, and the Home Telephone & Telegraph Company was no exception. Headlines would later describe that Theodore Roosevelt himself brought the companies machinery to life with a touch of a golden button. The company pioneered their industry with the developing Spokane's earliest automatic dial telephone system. This new system was controversial, due to the fact that switchboard operators were no longer needed. But the desire for private automatic telephone services vastly outweighed the local operators' dispute.

The Home Telephone & Telegraph Company Building is a two-story commercial block constructed of steel-reinforced concrete and brick masonry. The Home Telephone & Telegraph Company Building has undergone several alterations during the last 100 years. Most significantly, the building's brick neighbors were demolished and replaced with parking lots. The Home Telephone & Telegraph Company Building's exposed brick walls were covered with gray stucco, but was later removed.

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At the turn of the century, thousands of Spokane workers lived in hotels much like this one. Built in 1910, the Hotel Upton was a Single Room Occupancy Hotel (SRO). Typical of SROs at the time, the Upton's 102 units had a sink and a wardrobe. Of the 102 rooms, only 15 had private bathrooms. Not uncommon for the time, those who were not lucky enough to have a private bath used the public facilities that were located on their respective floor. Out of necessity the building has been upgraded from its electric lighting and steam heat, but the original dark wainscoting and the hinged transom windows, which increased air circulation, can still be seen throughout the building. The hotel provided short term and permanent housing for the workers who came to labor in Spokane's expanding industries. By the 1920s, an SRO could be found on practically every block in the heart of Spokane.

A local investor, Andrew Laidlaw, built the four-story, red brick hotel for $50,000. Prominent architect, L.L. Rand, who worked as an architect in Minneapolis before moving to Spokane in 1888, was hired to design the building. A project in the 1990's exposed original prism-glass transoms and canted entries that had been covered up for decades. Along with a pronounced entrance, terra cotta lintels with projecting keystones head the spectacular windows.

This building has had a long and varied career. In 1933, the name was officially changed to the Grand Coulee Hotel. Like most SROs, the Upton has been home to a diverse range of businesses on the ground floor, many catering to its working class occupants including grocery and hardware shops as well as coffee houses.

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Constructed in 1905 for $200,000, the Renaissance inspired building in front of you is a six-story commercial structure. The Holley-Mason Building was one of the first reinforced concrete buildings in the entire state. The load-bearing capabilities for reinforced concrete were still in its experimental phases at the time of this sites construction. The Holley-Mason Building was incorrectly marketed as Spokane's first fireproof building because of the tremendously reduced use of wood materials throughout. The Holley-Mason Building was constructed as a warehouse for heavy hardware in support of the growing mining industry.

During the Holley-Mason Company's occupation of the site, floor organization was based off the weight of the overall kind of merchandise. The basement of the hardware building held nails, barbed wire, bolts and heavy material. The second floor contained sporting goods, while the third floor had wagon and carriage goods. Lastly, the fourth floor had stoves and the fifth floor housed home furnishing hardware. Architecturally, the building is Commercial Romanesque and displays a variety of fenestration and ornamentation. The segmentally-arched windows, rusticated brick work and terra cotta keystones are all features correlated with the Renaissance style of the building.

Albert Held, an architectural pioneer in the Pacific Northwest, designed the Holley-Mason and several other famous buildings in Spokane. Albert Held was born in Minnesota in 1866. For a short time he was a draftsman in Minnesota, but like many of his craft he moved to Spokane when he heard of the great opportunities to rebuild a city. Albert Held was an involved community member in Spokane until his death in 1924. Today the Holley-Mason is still a warehouse, approaching an age of 110 years old.

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The railroad lines, and the limitless job opportunities that came with them, brought a great number of families to the Inland Northwest in search for better lives. Seeing the need for inexpensive housing, inland investor Henry Sorg built the Globe Hotel in 1908. Sorg called his newly constructed building the "Janet Block," named after his wife. The hotel, however, was nicknamed the "Globe," to illustrate the hotel's exceptional hospitality to all travelers and immediately reached full capacity. As a Single Room Occupancy (SRO), the Globe offered private, semi-furnished rooms to working class laborers, the backbone of Spokane's prosperity.

The interior space of the Globe Hotel is typical of all SRO's of the time. It had retail spaces at ground level, a centrally-located lobby, and small single rooms on the upper floors. The lobby's green, gold, and cream tin ceiling is its most notable feature. Some rooms contained closets and private bathrooms, which was a rare luxury for the time. In 1908, the Globe Hotel had 72 rooms and 30 private bathrooms. Each tenant had a telephone, electric ceiling light, a sink and a brass bed in their room. The Globe also offered natural light and fresh air in each room, unusual for an SRO of its vintage.

The Globe Hotel rises three-stories, but was constructed with sufficient foundation strength to accommodate three additional floors. The building adorns a recessed plaque declaring the block's name "Janet," as well as a marquee spelling "The Globe," which hangs from the building's entrance. In the 1970's, extensive alterations were made to the Globe. The most significant change was the development of the building's interior to make it more versatile. Unfortunately, the original Globe Hotel marquee was lost; the one before you today is a replica.

After Henry Sorg died in 1941, Janet Sorg managed her husband's real estate investment company for a short time. Albert Held, the Globe's architect, was responsible for many other prestigious Spokane buildings, including the Holley-Mason building, Lincoln School, and the San Marco Apartments.

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Spokane is great example of how Northwest cities were able to organize nature through commerce. From its beginning, Spokane was connected to its abundant hinterland of resources and budding industries. A rare survivor of the 1889 fire, the Spokane Dry Goods Realty Company Building is one of the oldest structures in Spokane. As one might imagine, the Dry Goods Realty Building business flourished from the unfortunate destruction that the Great Fire of 1889 left behind. Owner James M. Comstock arrived in Spokane just before the fire and encouraged his associates Robert B. Paterson, James L. Paine and Eugene A. Shadle, to quickly follow him to the Inland Empire.

Needing more space, the Dry Goods Realty Company built a warehouse in 1910 right across the street. This warehouse was deliberately designed to match its existing neighbor. The building before you is mainly a Commercial Style design, however it is sprinkled with Romanesque features. Below the second level belt course is a painting of the Riverfront Park clock tower. The structure also adorns a painted ghost sign for "Bear Brand Hosiery," advertising "Fit for all the family." Spokane Dry Goods Realty Company manufactured men's work clothes and children's clothing on the top floor of their warehouse. During World War II, the building was appropriately (and patriotically) repurposed as a U. S. Army warehouse.

Born in Massachusetts, architect Loren L. Rand came to Spokane in 1888. Rand, one of the first architects to design buildings after the Great Fire of 1889, is responsible for many of Spokane's most memorable buildings and homes. Sadly, most of Loren L. Rand's work has been demolished. A building contractor by the name of Frederic Phair oversaw the construction of the Dry Goods Realty Company. Phair, an Ireland native, also came to Spokane in 1888, where he, along with many others, opened a business rebuilding the city after the fire.

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In 1905, a growing city needed a new library. Carnegie libraries were built with donated funds from the Scottish-American millionaire Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie believed that a "man who dies rich, dies disgraced," thusly he gave away much of his vast fortune towards the end of his life. Between 1883 and 1929, Carnegie funded the construction of 1,689 libraries across the United States. The Carnegie Formula required cities to monetarily match the donation, demonstrate the need for a library, provide the site, provide ten percent of the cost of the construction on a yearly basis, and provide free service to all.

A small group of women formed Spokane's first Public Library in 1884 and filled their meager collection with books donated by their community. Spokane was awarded a Carnegie grant and in 1905 the Carnegie Library completed construction. A donation of $85,000 by A.B. Campbell covered the construction cost that was expected from the city according to the Carnegie Formula. Preusse and Zittel, two well-known architects in the area, designed the building. A new library was later built and the building before you that use to house books became a place for nurses to train.

The building in front of you is a two-story brick building with four white Corinthian columns with a colossal portico. Underneath the centered main entrance is a foundation of Tenino sandstone, which highlights the attractiveness of the columns above it that are made of the same material. Most of the windows are slightly arched and there is an interior courtyard under a skylight that let in ample amounts of sunlight for former library patrons. If you can peek in the window, you will also see large ornamental brick fireplaces in almost every room.

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The commercial Renaissance Revival style structure that dominates the intersection of Washington Street and W. Riverside Avenue is a spectacle of the wealth acquired through the Coeur d'Alene mining industry. The population of Spokane tripled during 1900 to 1910, going from an average western town of 36,000 to over 100,000. Savvy businessmen were putting their unique signature on the budding city through the construction of extravagant buildings. F. Lewis Clark and Charles Sweeny were such businessmen. Almost overnight, the two men became vastly wealthy after signing a deal regarding the Coeur d'Alene mines.

F. Lewis Clark wanted to offer the members of the Spokane Club a building that they could grow into. Clark and Sweeny hired the architect J.K. Dow to erect a grand building, whose lavishness could be admired from the streets. The Spokane Club was one of Dow's first architectural contributions to the city. After the completion of the American Legion, the young architect built the Masonic Temple, the Paulsen Building and the Hutton Building. He moved to Seattle in 1937, where he continued to work. No one really knows what happened to Mr. Clark. It is said that after he moved to Santa Barbara with his wealth, he mysteriously disappeared.

The grand America Legion and the Empire State Building were the first structures in Spokane to be built with fireproof structural steel and have high speed electric elevators. Architecturally, the symmetrical building is richly detailed in the Renaissance Revival mode.

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This is the site of the American Firebrick Company. Charles P. Oudin, Lucien Oudin, James Kilbreth, and Frank Watson started the American Firebrick Company in 1902. Although it is located 15 miles outside of Spokane, the American Firebrick Company in Mica, Wa played a very influential role in shaping it's larger, well-known neighbor.

Brick manufacturing was an essential industry for the economic and architectural development of Spokane. Brick making in Spokane began around 1880, when the young city was exponentially growing in population and infrastructure. The fire that demolished much of Spokane's downtown in 1889 further increased the brick industry. The reconstruction of Spokane's scorched downtown put a serious demand on brick making. The industry was faced with the challenge of supplying the city with building materials that would rival their Eastern competitors.

Many significant buildings, industries and roads in Spokane were constructed with Mica brickyard products. By 1911 the company succeeded in making quality paving brick used to pave streets. The American Firebrick Company quickly became one of the most recognized brick manufacturing companies in the Northwest. The company's products can be seen in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. In September 1929, a month before the stock market crash, Oudin sold the plant to Gladding McBean. Against all odds, Gladding McBean was able to stay afloat throughout the Depression. Then came World War II, which brought numerous new demands for products fired in the Mica kilns and production increased.

The complex is comprised of old and new structures. Despite over 100 years of erosion and deterioration, five of the original kilns still survive. The first brick plant was replaced in 1957 by the plant in front of you. Everything about the construction of the kiln is designed to regulate the flow of hot air to achieve the proper circulation of heat which perfects the firing process. This brickyard is the only one of it's kind in the region to have remained in continuous operation since its establishment.

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What's that in the river? The stainless steel sculpture floating in the Spokane River was created by Harold Balazs in 1978. It was dedicated to the city in 1981 in celebration of the City of Spokane's centennial year. Harold Balazs is a renowned and adored Spokane figure, but his legend is recognizable throughout Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Alaska and Montana. Locally, Balazs' work is most associated for this exact sculpture you gaze upon, which appears to gracefully float on the river in Riverfront Park.

This sculpture weighs two tons and is fixed to the bottom of the Spokane River's south channel. The thirty-five foot long steel sculpture was designed to reflect light from the water. To really capture how light reflects off water and make his sculpture look like it could morph it's appearance, Balazs consulted marine engineers from Seattle. During the time of its installation, this sculpture was one of the largest floating statues in the world.

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The magnificent fountain in front of you, almost never transpired from vision to reality. When Riverfront Park was renovated following Expo '74, an entertaining children's fountain, as well as an aesthetically pleasurable art piece was conceptualized for the grand entrance to the park. Funding was limited however, so a temporary flower bed of colorful annuals was built in the fountain's stead. Prior to the Expo', where you stand today was occupied by dusty railroad tracks and rundown warehouses. These railroad tracks were so close to the Spokane River and the Falls that they really discouraged public access to the water and proved to be a great nuisance for city planners. In December 2004, some 30 years later, the flower bed was relocated to install the Rotary Riverfront Fountain and plaza that adorns Riverfront Park's entrance today. The fountain was officially dedicated "to the people of Spokane" in 2005.

How tall is the fountain? The stainless steel columns before you are each 24 feet tall. A 30 foot diameter ring is held up by these 5 stainless steel columns. In the warmer seasons, some jets spray towards the middle of the fountain creating a beautiful dome of waterfalls, other jets shoot water upwards, some mist, and a few spray sideways. In all, there are 40 overhead jets. Keeping in mind the environmental theme of Expo' 74, the artist designed the fountain to conserve water by a filtration and recirculation process.

The fountain's sculptures were designed by Harold Balazs and Bob Perron. More information about Harold Balazs can be located at the Untitled Lantern stop or the Centennial Sculpture stop.

For more (including 4 images and 1 sound clip), view the original article.

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From 1955 to 1975, more than 3 million Americans fought in Vietnam. Almost 60,000 U.S. soldiers were killed, and more than 150,000 wounded in combat. Almost every community across the United States, from large cities to small farm towns, felt the toll of the Vietnam War. Spokane was no exception. The hinterlands lost 300 beloved lives. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in front of you was erected to honor those 300 soldiers who called the Inland Northwest home. According to an article in the Spokane Chronicle in 1983, the sculpture was originally envisioned to hold twice the amount of names then you see before you. The names of these soldiers would have come from Eastern Washington, North Idaho, Western Montana and Southern British Columbia.

This bronze soldier gazing across the park weights 400 pounds and sits atop a 3,400 pound granite base. According to the artist, the letter in the soldier's hand is meant for onlookers to "fill in the blank sheet." To raise funds for the art piece, collection canisters were placed in local business like 7-Eleven stores and Pizza Huts. It was a three-year community effort to raise the $95,000 commission. This hefty amount included labor and material for the memorial. It was not until a competitive bid for the Memorial was offered from the neighboring city of Portland did Spokane raise the needed amount to erect the sculpture. The victorious Spokane dedicated the piece on November 11, 1985.

The artist of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is Deborah Copenhaver-Fellows. Copenhaver-Fellows is renowned for her work with metals, specifically for her technique of manipulating bronze and silver. Her sculptures can be admired all over the United States including the Capitol Building, the Bing Crosby statue at Gonzaga University, and the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Olympia.

For more (including 8 images and 1 sound clip), view the original article.

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This twenty-foot cement statue was originally titled Untitled, but was quickly renamed The Lantern due to its striking closeness to that of a Japanese lantern. A disarray of geometric cut-outs allows Spokane's eminent Clocktower to be visible from the opposite side of the sculpture. If you were allowed to climb to the top (and you are not), you could look down the column and see the artist's message inside.

The outstanding sculpture in front of you was designed by Harold Balazs. The artist developed his skills and experience with metal fabrication and complex shapes while helping his father in their family's air conditioning and sheet metal business in Ohio. Balazs pioneered the significance of his craft throughout the Northwest and by the mid-1960s, he had become so revered that The Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture acquired thirty of his pieces.

In an interview, artist Harold Balazs said of his creations: "I don't think it's important what it is we make, but I think we just need to decorate the world and cause surprises. Too much importance is placed on the interpretation of art. He believes his duty, and that of all artists, is to create a sense of wonder through their work. The one thing that runs through the work that I consider my most serious stuff is the idea of juxtaposing disparate ideas. This is a very complex world. This disparate quality of life in the world today -- we need to start getting along with each other. I try to express that idea -- disparate ideas can get along. And it's nothing more complicated than that."

For more (including 4 images and 1 sound clip), view the original article.

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The sculpture in front of you is called The Call and The Challenge. It was erected by Ken Spiering in 1986 to commemorate Sacred Heart Medical Center's 100th year anniversary. The piece depicts Mother Joseph, a Sister of Providence, laying bricks. The artist, Ken Spiering, was born in Wyoming in 1950 and now resides in eastern Washington. Mr. Spiering's, a graduate from Gonzaga University, has a diverse amount of artistic talents including watercolor and oil painting, carved wood, cast bronze, and sculpting concrete and steel sculptures. His work can be seen all over the Northwest including the giant red wagon located in Spokane's Riverfront Park.

So who was Mother Joseph? Mother Joseph joined the convent of the Sisters of Charity of Providence (now Sisters of Providence). In 1856, at an astounding young age, she successfully led multiple missionaries to the Pacific Northwest Territories of the United States. In 1857 the Sisters settled in Vancouver, Washington to create an institution to support orphaned girls and boys. The establishment also housed the elderly and insane. This little charitable institution would eventually become the first St. Joseph Hospital. Two years later, Mother Joseph formed the "Sisters of Charity of the House of Providence in the Territory of Washington." To this day, it is one of the oldest organizations in the region. Mother Joseph helped bring numerous charitable institutions to the American Northwest including eleven hospitals, five schools for Native American children, and two orphanages for children from all backgrounds.

The model for bronze man pushing the wheelbarrow was not alive during Mother Joseph's time, but is also famous across the Northwest in his own right. The figure toiling away is Harold Balazs, the artist behind some of Spokane's most remarkable works including the Rotary Riverfront Fountain, the Lantern Statue and the Centennial Sculpture. Spiering and his good friend collaborated on this project, Spiering the artist, while Balazs is the unexpected model.

For more (including 5 images, 1 sound clip and 1 video), view the original article.

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This sculpture with the austere expression was dedicated on July 2, 1992. This abstract sculpture was given to Spokane by our former sister city Makhachkala. The sculpture represents Shamil, an anti-Russian resistance hero during the Caucasian War, a 19th-century politician and a revered religious leader. Shamil was not the most successful military leader, but his convictions to reinstitute Muslim Law exalted him to an Imam- a sacred religious leader. The creation of the sculpture in 1992 celebrated the independence of Dagestan from the collapsed Soviet Union. Makhachkala is the capital city of the Dagestan Republic.

Spokane and Makhachkala swapped sculptures the summer of 1992. A totem pole, created by the great Northwest artist Harold Balazs, was gifted to Makhachkala. In return, Anatoli Abgudaev created this portrayal of Shamil for Spokane. This hammered copper sculpture of Shamil exemplified the ideas of peace over war, and the importance of freedom world wide.

The sister-city arrangement between Spokane and Makhachkala was only momentary. Like most of her neighbors, instability gripped the Dagestan Republic and Spokane lost most, if not all, communication with their sister city. The relationship abruptly ended between the sister cities in 1994 when Spokaneites traveled to Makhachkala and were fired upon. Currently Spokane has four sister relationships: Nishinomiya, Japan (established in 1961), Jilin City, China (1987), Limerick, Ireland (1990), and Jecheon, Korea (1999). Listen to the podcast on this page for more information about the sister cities program.

For more (including 5 images, 1 sound clip and 1 video), view the original article.

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The symmetrical tall sculpture in front of you was created by George Tsutakawa in 1974. George Tsutakawa has created fountains all over the United States and Japan. In congruence with Mr. Tsutakawas design style, the Aluminum Fountain is a superb display of the harmony between nature and water. The fountain is ideally placed with a lush green backdrop of Spokane's Riverfront Park.

George Tsutakawa has attributed historical structures like stone towers, Japan pagodas, totem poles and obos (stacked rock structures found in Asia's soaring mountain passes) to be a muse for him when conceptualizing his fountains. The Aluminum Fountain is one of the artists representations of an obos.

George Tsutakawa was born in Seattle in 1910, but at a young age was sent to live with relatives in Japan. It was on that island, that Mr. Tsutakawa adopted the culture and traditions of the Japanese. Mr. Tsutakawa eventually moved back to Seattle and served as a Japanese language instructor at the Army's Military Intelligence School during World War II. Using the GI bill, a benefit he earned while serving in the military, Tsutakawa started graduate school at the University of Washington to study art. After a very long and successful career, the mastermind behind this striking fountain in front of you died on December 18, 1997.

For more (including 4 images, 1 sound clip and 1 video), view the original article.

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