All Stories: 705
Stories
John G. Lake, Riverside Cemetery
Faith healer, John Graham Lake, was a prominent evangelical preacher and contributor to the founding of the American Pentecostal movement in the early 1900s. He began the first healing rooms in Spokane in 1915, and many people, Christians and…
Spokane Fire Station No. 9: Old Nine
In 1908 the first Station No. 9 was constructed on this site to serve Spokane's newest neighborhood, the growing South Hill. No. 9 housed one combination truck and chemical engine, one 3rd class Silsby engine, one hose wagon, cotton hose,…
Lewis and Clark High School
Lewis and Clark High School was not always the magnificent landmark it is today. In fact, it was founded in 1883 as schoolhouse called Central School, which became the high school when the city built separate elementary schools to accommodate the…
Edwidge Woldson Park
Seventh Avenue and the lower South Hill was once the neighborhood of Spokane elites. Bankers, senators, businessmen, mining and lumber entrepreneurs, doctors, architects, and lawyers built their mansions along the base of the basalt bluff. Some…
Riverside State Park
The land where Riverside State Park sits was once lands used by the Spokane Tribe and other local tribes. The Native Americans would meet at the Spokane Falls or near the confluence of the Little Spokane and the Spokane Rivers to trade or to set up…
Spokane's First Legal Hanging, Greenwood Cemetery
Where lays Charles Brooks? Who was he? Why is he in an unmarked grave? Mr. Brooks has the unfortunate fame of being the first legally hanged man in Spokane.
The 1891 Brooks case was quite the scandal for Spokane. Brooks, 62, was charged…
Spokane's Deadliest Disaster, Greenwood Cemetery
There are 15 unmarked graves at Greenwood Memorial Terrace that belong to railroad workers who were blown to smithereens on 06 September 1890.
A crew, of at least 24 men, was working that day to clear rock to make way for the Northern Pacific…
High Drive Parkway
The breathtaking views ago High Drive are the highlight of Spokane's system of scenic roadways.
The system was laid out a century ago and is described in the Park Board Report of 1913, "High Drive Parkway is a picturesque driveway lying…
Sisters of St. Francis, Fairmount Cemetery
Clustered together in the Catholic section of Fairmount Memorial Park are 8 graves from the early 1900s that belong to the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Each grave was once marked with a white marble headstone, but were falling apart and…
Minnehaha Health Spa and Resort
When Edgar J. Webster came to Spokane in 1883 he planned to practice law. He built his summer home on the outskirts of the growing city of Spokane in a place called Minnehaha. The stone building still stands in the park today. While rumors about…
Underhill Park
Underhill park started as Underhill Playfield. Unlike many of the other early parks in Spokane, which were meant to be landscaped gardens of peace and contemplation, this park was designed to have ball fields and play equipment. It was purchased…
Polly Judd Park
Polly Judd was an enthusiastic supporter of Spokane Parks and was active in the community. According to her obituary on March 30, 1981 in the Spokane Daily Chronicle, she was one of the founders of the Lilac Festival, served on the board of the…
High Bridge Park
High Bridge Park has had a variety of uses including a motor camp, sanitarium for tuberculosis, temporary home to a steam locomotive, federal housing for veterans, a potential zoo site, a dude ranch offer, a dump, and currently it is home to a dog…
Grant Park
Grant Park sits in the newly revitalized Perry Street District on the lower South Hill. This park is unique in that it was originally designed to be a playfield, originally called the U. S. Grant Playground. It was 2.97 acres and like many of the…
Palisades Park
Palisades Park starts high above Spokane and includes about 700 acres. The cross streets are Greenwood Rd. and Rimrock Drive. The park is considered both conservation land and a city park and includes views of the city and Mount Spokane, basalt…
Indian Canyon Park
This hidden and beautiful park sits just off Riverside Drive under the shadow of a railroad trestle.
This park was once home to several Native Americans including Chief Spokan Garry. Native Americans lived in this park off and on well into the…
Joel E. Ferris Perennial Gardens
From 1905 to 1932 during the zoo years at Manito this area was covered with decorative hedges and paths to different areas of the zoo. Reports list animal cages along the wall to the current Rose Garden. With the records that are available, it is…
That Place Where Ghosts of Salmon Jump, Spokane Falls
At the Spokane Public Library's Overlook Park there is a platform overlooking Spokane Falls. It was here that artist and former Spokane resident Sherman Alexie was inspired to write his poem, "That Place Where Ghosts of Salmon Jump." …
Unsolved Assassination
[PRIVATE RESIDENCE - Do not disturb.]
A shot rang out, glass broke, and down went the former Spokane Police Chief, John Sullivan, in his own living room. On Jan. 5, 1911 the former Chief of Police was assassinated by a gunman in the house that…
Trent Alley
In 1913, the east side of Spokane's downtown teemed with small businesses run by Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Greek and German immigrants. Their restaurants, laundries and baths, barber shops, hotels, groceries and pool halls mainly served the…
Schade Brewery
Spokane was a town of working men--and a town of breweries when the Schade Brewery was built in 1903. Bernhardt Schade, who owned the building, was brew master at the locally-owned and operated New York Brewing Company. The brewery was designed by…
Theodore Roosevelt on the Parade Grounds
You are standing where Teddy Roosevelt stood on April 8th 1911, reviewing the 500 heroic African-American troops of the 25th Infantry as they passed in review. The 25th Infantry had served with Roosevelt in the Spanish American War, and had been…
The Crescent Building
Large department stores once ruled the centers of American cities. Macy's in New York, Nordstrom in Seattle, and the Crescent in Spokane sold everything needed for daily life and often many extras. The buildings that housed these stores were…
Father Velis and the Holy Trinity Lawn, Riverside Cemetery
Greek Orthodox heritage in Spokane: Father Nicholas J. Velis was instrumental in fostering its growth and longevity. He was also the one who pushed for an eternal resting ground for the community of believers - the Holy Trinity Lawn at Riverside…
Washington State Archives, Digital Archives
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…
snyamncut: EWU's New Residence Hall
On this spot, bordered by Eleventh and Cedar Streets, stands Eastern Washington University's newest residence hall, snyamncut. This location used to serve as a parking lot for residents of Streeter, Morrison, and Louis Anderson Halls, but on…
Independent Order of Odd Fellows Building
You are currently facing the Independent Order of Odd Fellows building, one of only four surviving two story brick commercial buildings in Cheney.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990, this building was erected in 1904.…
Roos Field
The red field you see before you is Roos Field, formerly known as Woodward Field, home to Eastern Washington Universities Eagles. The vibrant red turf recently added in 2010 has earned the field its nickname "The Inferno". Eastern…
"Dutch" Jake Goetz, Harry Baer and the Coeur d'Alene Hotel
"Dutch" Jake Goetz and his partner Harry Baer embodied the gold rush and pioneer attitude. After receiving two hundred thousand dollars in 1888 for their role in discovering the Bunker Hill mine, Dutch and Baer moved to Spokane Falls. …
Jensen-Byrd Warehouse
In 1909 the Minnesota hardware company, Marshall Wells, hired the Minnesota native and Spokane resident Albert Held to design their Spokane warehouse. This building was designed as a warehouse at a time in which all goods were traveled by rail to a…