The Harrington Opera House and Bank Block building housed the Bank of Harrington, one of the first banks in the city. The building was designed by local construction firm J.R. Burrill and Company and run by local pioneers John F. Green, Marion F. Adams and Albert G Mitchum. The building opened in December of 1904 and housed a bank, a bowling alley, a barber shop, cigar and confectionery shop, the Harrington Citizen newspaper, as well as an upstairs opera house. It cost $25,000 to build the Romanesque brick structure, which used Harrington-made bricks to construct the exterior.

The first show to be produced in the upstairs auditorium was "The Lady Minstrels" on December 16, 1904, and it drew the largest crowd the Opera House would ever see. In the backstage dressing rooms, there are names of past actors/ actresses signed on the walls. Such names include the Jolly Entertainers, Miss Clara Gooley, the Odessa Dramatic Club and Harrington High School. When the auditorium opened, it boasted 350 seats but shows normally drew over 400 guests at one time. To this day eight scenic canvases dating back to 1906, created by J.R. Quinn and the Spokane Scenic Studios, still exist. On the back of the canvases there are hand drawn portraits of people, mainly faces of women, and one Native American chief.

The Bank of Harrington remained open until 1969 when it was bought out by Old National Bank and moved a block away to 3rd and Main. When the lobby was being renovated, the old teller's counter was sold to the Spokane Old Spaghetti Factory where it can be seen today. The old bank lobby became the lobby for the Opera House and the old barber shop now acts as the town's historical museum. The building was bought by the Harrington Opera House Society when they were formed on January 11, 1992, for one dollar. The sale was facilitated by local retired college professor Douglass Rudkoff and other members of the Society, which has been maintaining the building ever since. When the building was bought, the South facing exterior wall was sagging and needed to be repaired. The repairs are not very noticeable but make the building more stable. A new staircase was installed in 2008 in order to connect the main bank lobby and the upstairs auditorium and stay up to fire code. The ceiling of the auditorium was also replaced in 2010.

Over the years there have been a wide variety of events held at the Harrington Opera House. The infamous movie "Birth of a Nation" was shown in the Opera House in 1917 as well as "The Gay Deceiver" in 1926. The off- Broadway production of "The Imprudent Young Couple" written in 1895 made a stop in Harrington and it's playbill is hanging in the lobby to this day. The most common events that took place in the auditorium were balls and dances. The last event planned at the Opera House, a Valentine's Day dance, was scheduled for February of 1942, but it was canceled due to "the war and weather conditions." The decorations from that dance were not taken down until the buildings eventual sale in 1992.

Today the Opera House stands restored and again hosts a variety of events, from town meetings to concerts. It remains the cultural center of Harrington and is an important element in the town's revitalization efforts.

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Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge was created in response to Executive Order Number 7681 signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt which was signed on July 30, 1937. The refuge, originally named the Turnbull Migratory Waterfowl Refuge, consists of 16,000 acres and contains Ponderosa Pine forests, deep canyons and large basalt outcroppings. The refuge was originally created in order to increase the breeding ground for the waterfowl after local sportsman and naturalists noticed a sharp decline in birds. Turnbull is unique because it blends the dry arid grasslands of the Columbia Basin and the lush timber of the Bitterfoot Mountains. There are over 200 different kinds of birds that make Turnbull their home as well as elk, white-tailed deer, badgers and over 20 different kinds of bats.

The Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge is governed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service which includes over 150 million acres of wildlife land throughout the country. The main goal of the service is to preserve the wildlife within the specified lands by education, management and restoration of species within a specific area. The movement of conservation started with President Theodore Roosevelt but Turnbull was not created until Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration in 1937.

When settlers originally moved to this area in the 1880's, they drained the swampland in order to make way for livestock grazing land. To effectively drain the land, the farmers created a series of drainage districts throughout the area. Not only did those settlers drain the water forcing many populations of animals to migrate somewhere else, but they also eradicated the area of many exotic and rare plants. In order to supplement their incomes, the farmers that lived on what is now the wildlife refuge planted and sold hay, hunted and hauled freight. After a while, most farmers gave up on farming the area and moved away.

One such farmer was a Cyrus Turnbull. Even though the site bears his name, Turnbull lived on the land for no more than six years in the 1880's. He and his wife Mary Jane lived in a small cabin on the north end of the Turnbull Slough but after a while, they packed up their children and moved to Idaho. Supposedly the name Turnbull comes from the Scottish folktale of a brave farmer jumping on the back of a raging bull and "turning" it away from the King that was standing nearby. Cyrus was known a fast tempered man with red, fiery hair to match. He died in Sandpoint, Idaho on December 23, 1943.

Currently, scattered around the refuge are the remains of dozens of houses, two schools, roads, etc. In recent years, researchers have also found rock shelters that may have been left over from the Native tribes that inhabited this land over 8,000 years ago.

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The house that now contains the Eastern Washington University Alumni Association, was originally one of three houses that Governor Clarence Martin owned in Cheney. The house served as the Governor's house until it was converted into office space for the university's Alumni and other organizations on June 9, 1989. The house is in the shape of a "U" with a side garage and well manicured front lawn. It faces Showalter Hall.

Clarence Martin was born on June 29, 1884 in Cheney where his father ran the Cheney Grain and Milling Company. Martin stayed close to this area, graduating from the Cheney Normal School in 1903. He continued his education at the University of Washington graduating in 1906. After his graduation, he went back to Cheney to help his father run the Grain and Mill Company.

Martin's political career took off when he was elected to be on the City Council of Cheney in 1915. He served as the Cheney Mayor from 1928-1936. During his term as Mayor, he also ran for Governor of Washington and won in 1933. He was allowed to continue his term as Mayor and would travel back and forth between Olympia and Cheney after each legislative session. During his gubernatorial term in the 1930's, he was a strong proponent of stricter controls over liquor. After his term as Governor he also served as a stand in State Representative for the 5th District in 1944.

During his life, Martin was married three times and had three sons. His first marriage was just out of college to a woman named Margaret Milligan in 1907. They divorced in 1943 and he remarried to Merle L. Lewis in 1944. That marriage only lasted about two years and ended in 1946. His third and final marriage was to Lou Eckhart in 1951. Governor Martin died on August 11, 1955 at the age of 71 and is buried in the Fairmont Memorial Park in Spokane, WA. His most remembered contribution to Washington was his creation of the Columbia Basin Commission that oversaw the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam.

The Clarence D. Martin football stadium at Washington State University was named after him because of the large contribution he made to the building of the new field. During the renovation of the stadium after a fire, Dan Martin the son of Governor Martin, gave a $250,000 contribution but said that the school had to name the stadium after his father. The field was unveiled on September 30, 1972 during the Cougars first returning game against Utah.

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*Please note: This is a private residence, please be respectful of the property and the resident's right to privacy.

This beautifully crafted house was built in 1904 by local retired farmer David Lowe. This house was built in the Queen Anne style and boasts whimsical arches and a wrap around front porch. When Lowe built the house, he also built a conjoining one and a half story carriage house that held his horses and is one of the only barns that still stands within Cheney city limits. There is also a potting shed in the back area of the house. In 1983, the house was nominated to be included on the National Register of Historic Places and on the Washington Heritage Registers.

David Lowe lived in Cheney in the early 1900's. He owned about 400-acres of land outside of Cheney for most of his working life until his retirement. After he retired, he built the house and spent his days tending to his horses in his carriage house. He was an active member of the local Masonic Lodge and dabbled in the real estate business. He and his wife Bessie were also involved in the humanitarian causes such as helping the victims of the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Bessie Lowe was involved in the social life within the Cheney community and was at one time the treasure for the Cheney Eastern Star. It is reported that she really enjoyed sitting on her porch on her swing.

Because the Lowe's did not have any children, they graciously took in students from the surrounding areas to board with them while they attending the college. Once the couple passed away in the mid-1930's, Mrs. Lowe's sister, Helen Ware took over the house and kept it as a boarding house for young women and the house has continued to be used as a multi-dwelling house ever since. Since its construction, there have been a few remodeling jobs to take the home from a single family dwelling to a multi-occupancy building. In the mid-1990's, the female sorority Alpha Phi bought the house and remodeled it to house the number of occupants they have. The top floor of the building which was the original dwellings of the house servants is now the home to up to 10 tenants. In the last couple years, the basement was also remodeled and also houses up to 10 tenants.

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Pearce Hall was built in 1964 as a male dormitory. Currently the largest residence hall on campus, Peace Hall consists of 12 floors, 7 coed and 4 gender specific floors, as well as a main lobby with a game room and office. It is one of two circular residential halls and is in close proximity to the central campus.

Pearce Hall is named after the very popular George H. "Doc" Pearce. Pearce was hired to work at the university in 1912 as a custodian and worked until his retirement in 1947. He retired with the title of Superintendent of Buildings and was well know around campus as a friend and avid school supporter. "Doc", as he was affectionately nicknamed by a student columnist, was at every sporting event the school had and even led most pep rallies while he was at Eastern. The Cheney Free Press said, "Doc could promote more pep and enthusiasm than any dozen cheerleaders." Even though Pearce was not an actual teacher, he was entrusted to teach classes on marriage, or Fussology 101, to incoming freshman. The only requirement to get into this class would be a brief conversation with someone of the opposite sex and the cost was the price of a marriage license. His class taught students how to hold hands, hug, kiss, making eyes and other important relationship actions.

After his retirement in 1947, Doc slowed down his involvement at the university and went to his last pep rally in 1955. He lived in a small house by himself on F Street. His personal statement still rings true to residents who live in George Pearce Hall, "Yesterday is but a dream- tomorrow is only a vision. But today, well lived, makes every yesterday and dream of happiness..."

Many things have happened in Pearce since it was built. In 1968, the Liverpool 5 performed for the residents. Pearce has also housed the National Football League's Seattle Seahawks in 2005. As they started their summer training camp, all 93 players stayed in Pearce Hall and demanded the school install air conditioners in all the rooms. Sadly, the air conditioners have since been removed. There is also an old-wives-tail that says if a resident of Pearce touches the picture of George Pearce, there will be a fire alarm that night.

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Opening in 2004, the Washington State Archives Building was created to house both the Eastern Washington Regional Archives and both state and local government Digital Archives. It was the first archives building to be built from the ground up that would be able to house the new technology needed to take on such a large project.

The Secretary of State of Washington desired an archives center to preserve documents that have either legal, fiscal or historical value. GlassHouse Technologies, Inc. was hired to help create the digital software needed to test the new system and find anything wrong with it during the initial stages of development. The creators also wanted this system to be easily accessible and allow its users to find what they needed quickly and efficiently. The new system kept in line with all the legal requirements for "e-records" and can access the records when needed for a wide variety of agencies.

The archives building was planned in 2000 and was approved for the 2001-2003 Capital Budget which gave the Secretary of State the power to fund such an expensive project. There were some alternate locations discussed during the initial surveying but according to the Washington State Digital Archives Feasibility Study printed in 2004, the other alternatives did not meet the legal requirements, could not ensure against loss of electrical archiving records due to natural disasters and other catastrophic events, as well as keep the project cost effective. When the building was finally completed in 2004, the first records to be housed at the Archives building were marriage records from Snohomish, Chelan, and Spokane counties as well as Historic Census and Naturalization records from the State Archives and State Library.

The Eastern Washington Regional Archives, which houses hundreds of thousands of paper records, is on the first floor and the Digital Archives is housed on the second. The building boasts a research room with computer work stations, a classroom fully equipped with the latest technology as well as a state-of-the-art data center. Currently, the archives building houses state and local government documents and is starting to help other states develop their own systems of digital archiving.

In October 2009, a plaque was installed commemorating the 5-year anniversary of the dedication of the building. The State Archives Building was dedicated and named after Secretary of State Belle Reeves. Reeves was appointed to be the interim Secretary of State after the current title holder Dr. E.N. Hutchinson died in 1940. She was the first female appointed to such a high political station in Washington State and was elected to the same position in 1944.

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