By John Moudy & Thomas Hunter
The building you are now facing is called Senior Hall. Unlike most of Eastern's facilities, Senior Hall is not named after any particular person. In its original design Senior Hall was very similar to Monroe Hall. Rapid growth of both the…

By Tracy L. Rebstock
The Park Bench Cafe marks the boundary between the zoo and the rest of the park at the corner of Tekoa and Manito. The zoo was part of Manito Park from 1905 to 1932. The area were the cafe now stands was covered with water, a pond for the ducks…

By Ryanna Thurman
What you see in front of you is where the barracks would have stood. While the ground floor was used to contain the kitchen, mess hall, wash room, library and non-commissioned officer's rooms, the upper floor was devoted to the enlisted…

By Billie Slick
The Clemmer Theatre, now known as the Bing Crosby Theater, was built in 1915 by Edwin W. Houghton. The building was first used as an 800-seat movie theater. The theater was very luxurious with painted murals, 1600 lights, and a grand Kimball…

By John Moudy
By the 1922-1923 school year the Cheney State Normal School had undoubtedly achieved success as a teachers training college. At the end of that year the school graduated 1,764 students with teaching degrees. With this growth came a possibly risky…

By John Moudy
Unlike the rest of the campus buildings the schoolhouse you see before you was never intended to be part of a college campus. Instead this building was created to teach the children of another community a few hours north of here. Built in 1905…

By John Moudy
The next couple of decades after World War II were arguably the most rapid period of growth this institution has ever seen. As part of this expansion certain facilities that had previous been in a shared building needed their own buildings. The John…

By Ian Reeves
The Davenport Hotel was the brainchild of restauranteur/entrepreneur Louis Davenport. Davenport was not a Spokane native, but he found himself in Spokane shortly after the great fire of 1889. Davenport lent his hand to the cleanup and…

By John Moudy
In what could be called the latest chapter in the history of the college, Eastern Washington State College was awarded university status because of its expanding programs and became Eastern Washington University in 1977. In recent years the college…

By Tracy L. Rebstock
When Francis Cook bought the land that would become Manito Park, he named it Montrose Park for its incredible selection of wild roses. Before Rose Hill was created, the area you are looking at was a spring fed pond where the elk and deer lived…

By Tracy L. Rebstock
The original greenhouse was on the corner of 18th and Grand until 1912, when it was relocated to its current location. It was renovated in 1974 in anticipation of the World Expo, and the central dome was added in 1988. The greenhouse served many…

By Tracy L. Rebstock
Before the Lilac Garden, this area was part of the Manito Zoo from 1905-1932, where buffalo roamed. One of the larger and more famous of the buffalo was King Ranger. When he died, his body was stuffed and given to the Cheney Cowles Museum in 1915.…

By Ian Reeves
The Spokane Steam Plant began as simple cost saving measure. In the early 1900's the Trustee Company owned five buildings in Spokane's downtown, and hit upon the idea of producing their steam heat from a central location to save on costs. …

By Ryanna Thurman
The workshop building was originally built in 1885 and cost the government $1,013.78. The 136 foot by 24 foot structure housed the blacksmith shop, carpenter shop, paint shop, tanner and wheelwright shop. All of these shops provided the means to…

By Clayton Hanson
Surrounded by a grotto of basalt columns is one of the most perennially popular remnants of Riverfront Park's past - the "Garbage Goat." Sculpted by Sister Paula Turnbull, a local nun and leading figure in Inland Northwest arts, this…

By Clayton Hanson
The Spokane River gorge has undergone many transformations in the last century. Don't be distracted by the roar of the falls; look at the riverfront. Until 2011, the trees, shrubs, and concrete remnants you see here were the former YMCA…

By Clayton Hanson
Standing on the bridge between Canada and Havermale Islands, you can see one of the many restorations of the Spokane Falls that began with Expo '74. The spray and splash of the falls during the annual spring and early summer snow melt is…

By Billie Slick
During the 1950's, Gonzaga recognized the need of a good library, and Bing Crosby became a major supporter for their cause. Crosby organized a television show called the Edsel Show in 1957, and the proceeds were to go towards the building. …

By Billie Slick
Deborah Copenhaver sculpted this bronze statue of Bing Crosby which was dedicated on Bing's birthday, May 3, 1981. Crosby had died in 1977. Kathryn Crosby, his widow, was in attendance. Bob Hope participated by phone, and was telecast over a…

By Billie Slick
In 1916, Bing became an an altar boy for St. Aloysius Church. Every third week, he attended and served mass at 6:30 a.m., Monday through Friday. One of Bing's friends asked him if he would like to sing at the church. Bing was hesitant,…

By Ian Reeves
In 1889, Frank Rockwood Moore and his wife Sarah Franicis Sherlock Moore began work on their residence in Spokane. Moore had made quite a name for himself in the local community. He was the first president of Washington Water Power, which would…

By Anne Coogan-Gehr
By the late 1870s, Spokane was becoming a town, a real town. And every town needs its women to stitch the fine threads of social and community structure. Early Spokane women followed their men to settle the untamed West. On occasion, they came on…

By Ian Reeves
The imposing stature of the Review Tower at the corner Riverside and Monroe stands as a reminder of different times. The late 1800's were the time when newspapers were king. Long before radio and television, before major networks came to…

By Julie Y. Russell
At the end of the 19th Century, membership in fraternal organizations and social clubs was at a peak - when it was common for ladies and gentlemen to be enrolled in several groups at a time. Women's groups usually focused on self-improvement,…

By Julie Y. Russell
In the aftermath of the American Civil War, veterans of the Union Army formed the fraternal organization, Grand Army of the Republic, in 1866. The initial purpose for the group was simply friendship and fellowship. However, based on their tenets…

By Nikolai Cherny
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…

By Nikolai Cherny
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…

By Nikolai Cherny
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,…