By Clayton Hanson
You are now looking at the Lower Falls of the Spokane River. This site was important in both the legends and daily lives of the Spokane, the Coeur d'Alene and others in this region. In one story, the Spokane River and its gorge were formed…

By Clayton Hanson
You are standing next to the clock tower of the former Great Northern station. It is one of the few surviving remnants of Havermale Island as it was from the first years of the 20th century until Expo '74. Though it is one of the only remains…

By Clayton Hanson
Extending upstream from where you stand is Inspiration Point and the monuments to the so-called Christian Pioneers. Funded and dedicated by an ecumenical collection of local churches, the monument was meant to inform visitors at Expo 74 of the…

By Tracy L. Rebstock
Standing at 2260 feet above sea level, this volcanic outcrop was used by the Spokane Tribe as a lookout. On a clear day you can see as far as the Little Spokane River and Mount Spokane. The park was formed in 1908 and included only 4.2 acres. …

By Tracy L. Rebstock
The natural history of this park goes back to geological events that shaped this area including lava flows, glacial activity, and the Missoula Floods. All of these events helped form the basalt rock, springs, and deep hillside steppes that are…

By Tracy L. Rebstock
"Lemonade and garden hats" are the legacy of Corbin Park according to an article in the Spokane Daily Chronicle in 1973. This tranquil, oval shaped park nestled among some of the busiest roads in Spokane once belonged to the…

By Tracy L. Rebstock
The Zoo was part of Manito Park from 1905 to 1932. There were several small animal cages near Rose Hill and the rock gardens, which housed skunk, coyote, bobcat, and other animals. While the zoo was a popular attraction, its upkeep proved…

By Tracy L. Rebstock
In 1968, Natatorium closed. For some it would be the close of an era, for others, it was a long time coming. Though Natatorium was never owned by the Spokane Parks Department, it was a park many Spokane residents remember fondly. The park was…

By Tracy L. Rebstock
Once an Indian winter camp, this area where Hangman Creek (Latah Creek) and the Spokane River merge has been a popular site for campers, transients, and picnickers. According to Curly Jim, from the Spokane Tribe and an early friend of the whites who…

By Tracy L. Rebstock
Chief Garry Park is the principal place in the city where Chief Spokan Garry is remembered and honored. The park dates back to 1912 when seven acres of land were purchased and set aside as a neighborhood park. It was named Chief Garry park in 1932…

By Tracy L. Rebstock
Nestled between two busy highways, the John A. Finch Arboretum is a quiet getaway from the hustle and bustle of Spokane. With only the hum of the highway to distract visitors, this 56 acre park boasts over 600 species of trees and shrubs. The…

By Tracy L. Rebstock
Comstock Park is one of many philanthropic works in Spokane. By the 1930s, park design had different priorities, recreation rather than contemplation and an emphasis on youth activities. Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Shadle donated 21 acres and $150,000 to…

By Tracy L. Rebstock
Today a part of Grant Park, Stadacona Circle was one of the earliest parks in Spokane. Once located on Eleventh Avenue between Ivory and Arthur Streets, this small 1.3 acre park was donated to the City of Spokane by the Citizens' National Bank…

By Tracy L. Rebstock
Before entering the Japanese Gardens, face northwest and you will see the Spokane Sister City sign at the corner of Bernard and Shoshone Place. The Sister City program idea started in the 1940s when a coastal city in Canada paired up with a…

By Tracy L. Rebstock
Before the Japanese Gardens, this area was part of the zoo from 1905 to 1932. This area was home to ostrich and emu. The Japanese Garden was designed by Nagao Sakurai. He designed 166 gardens all over the world. The idea for a Japanese Garden…

By Tracy L. Rebstock
Decline of the old Liberty Park began in the 1950s when the Spokane Park Board decided to fill in the pond for health reasons. In 1952 the city decided to dump nonburnable waste into the depression left by the pond and finally in 1956 plans for the…

By Tracy L. Rebstock
The main entrance to Manito Park is now at 18th and Grand, but in earlier years the entrance was at 20th and Grand. While today the area is green with grass and shaded by a few trees, in the first years of the twentieth century the "See…

By Tracy L. Rebstock
This small park between West Sixth and Seventh Avenue off Division is nestled in the South Hill Medical Complex. This area was where the Spokane Indians established their winter quarters but when Reverend Henry T. Cowley arrived with his family in…

By Tracy L. Rebstock
This camp site along Hangman creek in High Bridge park was a tourist destination from the early 1920s until the 1950s. Featured in the December 1946 trailer topics magazine, Westward Ho, the article praises Spokane for its reasonable rates ($4.50 a…

By Tracy L. Rebstock
While Mount Spokane was never officially a Spokane Park, the Spokane Parks department helped take care of it and was concerned with its future. Previously known as Mount Baldy and Mount Carlton, Mount Spokane got its name in 1912. Spokane…

By Tracy L. Rebstock
According to a long time Spokane resident, the City of Spokane had a reputation of "being a little on the wild side when it came to the proverbial wine, women, and song." By the early 19th Century, city fathers were engaged in an effort to…

By Julie Y. Russell
Clarence Cleveland Dill, commonly referred to as C. C., was instrumental in pushing Congress in the early 1930s to fund a study of the Columbia and Snake Rivers to determine the possibility of building dams for irrigation and electricity in the…

By Julie Y. Russell
Fairmount, like Greenwood and Riverside, is the final resting place for many of the community's early pioneers and city developers - people from the mining, lumbering, railroading, banking, city development, and governing arenas. But these…

By Julie Y. Russell
Section 90 at Fairmount Memorial Park is known as a Potter's Field. This portion of the cemetery was donated, in 1897, by Spokane County for the purpose of burying the indigent and/or unknown persons from the city and county. It is in this…

By Julie Y. Russell
Some of Spokane's earliest residents lived, or at least died, in anonymity. The Washington State Archives has 71 death records of unidentified persons found in Spokane during the period 1891-1907. The majority of these unknowns were buried at…

By Julie Y. Russell
The most recent change in burial practices is the increasing use of cremation. According to the Cremation Association of North America, nearly 26% of U. S. deaths in the year 2000 resulted in cremations rather than traditional burials. And they…

By Julie Y. Russell
As Spokane outgrew its frontier beginnings, its old church graveyards were at risk of overflowing, and the small pioneer cemeteries got in the way of land development. In order to solve both issues, A. M. Cannon and other prominent businessmen…

By Julie Y. Russell
Dr. Mary Archard Latham, Spokane's pioneer female physician, is one of early Spokane's most colorful and controversial characters. Latham graduated from medical school in 1886, at the age of 42, then moved to Spokane in 1887 to practice…

By Julie Y. Russell
Would you believe there's a tunnel that runs through the cemetery grounds at Greenwood Memorial Terrace? It's true. The 1889 plat for the cemetery indicates a proposed railroad terminal in the middle of the western perimeter. Originally,…

By Julie Y. Russell
The land where Riverside Memorial Park lies was originally a recreational municipal park, which opened in 1907 when John Aylard Finch spearheaded the organization of the Riverside Park Company. It wasn't until November 1914 that the grounds…