On July 1, 1958 a crowd of four to five thousand people gathered for the dedication and opening ceremony of the Maple Street Bridge. The $6,000,000 bridge was open for motorists' use, for a toll at that time (the bridge became free on Friday, July 13, 1990). The bridge took more than two years to construct, and spans over Peaceful Valley and the Spokane River at a length of 1708 feet.

There were mixed feelings from the residents of Peaceful Valley regarding the construction and placement of the bridge. Some saw it as source of shade for the summer sun, others thought it was simply an eyesore. The bridge was constantly a source of problems for the residents of Peaceful Valley.

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Known for decades as "Poverty Flats," Peaceful Valley has been home to many unique individuals over the years. Some of the more interesting characters are bonded by their humble residence, the shacks that they called home. Throughout its history, Peaceful Valley has seen the demise of shack dwellers. Newspaper articles document the tragic events of four individuals, Walter Cagle, Ed Peterson, John McBride, and Harry Larkin. Listen to the podcasts to hear their stories.

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Houses like the one you are facing now, are known as Shotgun style houses. They were labeled as such because it is said that one could stand at the front door and fire a shotgun exiting through the backdoor without hitting anything. Early in the 20th century, there were about 40 to 50 of these shotgun houses situated here in Peaceful Valley.

These houses are a great example of early architecture in Spokane, and add to the variety of unique houses that have long stood and still exist in Peaceful Valley. This particular house is one of the last standing shotgun houses in Peaceful Valley.

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the Pietsch house, built in 1891 by Franz Pietsch, a German bricklayer, has been one of Peaceful Valley's most adored and unique houses. The house features a unique Italian bricklaying method uncommon in Spokane during the early 1900s, and is the oldest single-family residence in Peaceful Valley.

Franz Pietsch lived in the home until his death in 1913, after which various members of the Pietsch family occupied it until 1929. From 1929 until 1960 the house sat vacant and deteriorated badly. By 1997, after over three decades of fighting in Probate court, the Pietsch was added to the historic register and became the object of restoration efforts. By Mothers' Day, 2003, new owners had revived the old house and were holding tours.

The Pietsch House demonstrates that Peaceful Valley was home to talented individuals who left their creative mark both on this neighborhood and on Spokane as a whole.

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Established in 1896, The Spokane Casket Company was one of the largest and longest surviving of Peaceful Valley businesses. Stephen Smith founded the company (originally on Post Street and called Spokane Coffin Factory) along with the Smith Funeral Home, and the two became synonymous with the business of death in Spokane. Peaceful Valley, secluded and seldom visited in those days, was an ideal location for the company. Although it was a behind the scenes player, the casket company, which employed thirty people less than two decades after its founding, was not only "inseparably linked... with the prosperity of Spokane," but was socially and economically important in the larger context of eastern Washington.

The boom lasted through the 1960s, but the Spokane Casket Company's business declined after that, and it finally closed its doors in 1999. In early 2001, after over a century of continuous operation that made it a fixture in Peaceful Valley, the remaining structures of the Spokane Casket Company were demolished.

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