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Great Fire of Spokane Falls, WA 8/4/1889
19:42 Jun 16 2012
Times Read: 468




Howard St. 1888





NW Howard literally just days before the fire



The summer of 1889 was particularly dry in the Pacific Northwest. Forest fires throughout the region were joined by a massive urban fire in Seattle on June 3rd. On August 4th, a fire ignited in a lodging house near the Northern Pacific Depot on Railroad Avenue in the city of Spokane Falls. Racing through the makeshift wooden buildings near the railroad tracks, the flames rapidly spread to the brick downtown. The fire department could not contain the blaze due to equipment failure. In the end, 32 blocks of the city center were razed.



On Sunday, August 4, 1889, fire destroys most of downtown Spokane Falls. It begins in an area of flimsy wooden structures and quickly engulfs the substantial stone and brick buildings of the business district. Property losses are huge, and one death is reported. Initially the fire is blamed on Rolla A. Jones, who was in charge of the water system and was said to have gone fishing after leaving the system in the charge of a complete incompetent. Later, city fathers will exonerate Jones, but this account, although false, will be repeated in many histories of the fire. Spokane will quickly rebuild as fine new buildings of a revitalized downtown rise from the ashes.



The fire began shortly after 6:00 in the evening. The most credible story of its origin is that it started at Wolfe’s lunchroom and lodgings opposite the Northern Pacific Depot on Railroad Avenue.



The flames raced through the flimsy buildings near the tracks. The nearby Pacific Hotel, a fine new structure of brick and granite, was soon engulfed in the wall of fire advancing on the business center. Church and fire-station bells alerted the public and the volunteer fire department, which had formed in 1884. Firefighters, attempting to put out the flames, could not get sufficient water pressure in the hoses to do so.



Spokane was no frontier town composed entirely of makeshift wooden structures, but the fire did start in such an area, where rubbish between buildings provided ideal tinder. The fire consumed that part of the city and then moved on.



Firefighters began dynamiting buildings in an attempt to deprive the fire of fuel, but the flames jumped the spaces opened and soon created their own firestorm. In a few hours after it began, the Great Spokane Fire, as it came to be called, had destroyed 32 square blocks, virtually the entire downtown.





There was one fatality, George I. Davis, who died at Sacred Heart Hospital of burns and injuries when he fled (or jumped) from his lodgings at the Arlington Hotel. Many others were treated at the hospital, where the nuns served meals to the newly homeless boardinghouse dwellers, mostly working men, plus others referred to in newspapers as the “sporting element.” Estimates of property losses ranged from $5 to $10 million, an enormous sum for the time, with one-half to two-thirds of it insured.



Some of Spokane’s leading citizens immediately formed a relief committee, and other cities donated food, supplies, and money. Even Seattle, just recovering from its own disastrous fire of June 6, sent $15,000. The National Guard was brought in to assure public order, to guard bank vaults and business safes standing amid the ruins, and to prevent looting. Mayor Fred Furth issued dire warnings against price gauging. Unemployed men immediately found work clearing the debris, and any who declined the opportunity were invited to leave town.



Businesses resumed in a hastily erected tent city. They included insurance adjusters, railroad ticket offices, banks, restaurants, clothing stores, and even a tent in which the Spokane Daily Chronicle carried on publication.



Early newspaper accounts contained only one explanation for the weak water pressure and failure to check the flames: that Superintendent of Waterworks Rolla A. Jones was away fishing or working on his steamboat -- accounts vary -- instead of tending his post, and that he had left the pumping station in the care of an incompetent substitute. S. S. Bailey of the City Council claimed to have run “to the pumping station as soon as the alarm was sounded and found that Superintendent Jones had left a man in charge there, who, by his own admission, was totally incompetent to handle the machinery, not knowing how to increase the speed of the pumps” (Spokane Falls Review, August 6, 1889). Other papers as far away as The New York Times repeated this story almost verbatim.





Howard St.





E. Riverside



To its credit, the City Council quickly appointed a Committee on Fire and Water to explore all possible reasons for the failure. Its report on August 14 exonerated Jones, but he resigned anyway. Refuting newspaper accounts, the City Council report stated: “It appears that the man left in charge of [the] pumping station during the absence of Supt. Jones is competent and reliable and of twenty years of practical experience in machinery and pumps ...”



The committee attributed the failure of water pressure to a burst hose rather than dereliction of duty and further reported that some members felt “bad management on the part of the fire department should be considered as the main cause of such an extensive conflagration” (Nolan, 50). Although this official interpretation of events was made known, Jones’s guilt was firmly lodged in the public mind and has been repeated in publications ever since.



Other factors besides weak water pressure contributed to the extent of the disaster. No doubt lingering smoke from forest fires delayed widespread awareness of the fire. The blaze started in a trash-ridden area of flimsy wooden structures. There was no citywide siren system. The pumping station had no telephone. The volunteer firefighters had inadequate leadership, were poorly equipped, and had to haul their own hose carts.



After the fire, the city prohibited wooden structures in or near the newly rising downtown, installed an electric fire alarm system, and established a professional, paid fire department, with horse-drawn equipment. Spokane rebuilt quickly, and a new city rose from the ashes





Howard St. 1911

The Davenport Hotel
07:32 Jun 16 2012
Times Read: 482






The Davenport Hotel has been world famous since it opened in September of 1914. It was the first hotel with air conditioning, a central vacuum system, housekeeping carts (designed by Louis Davenport himself), accordion ballroom doors and Crab Louis (named for Louis Davenport). The Spokane newspaper introduced the hotel to the public with a special Sunday insert trumpeting "the new two million dollar hostelry of Spokane," even though the project was 50% over budget and actually cost $3 million. At its opening, The Davenport Hotel was the largest private telephone branch exchange in the entire Pacific Northwest (with 450 handsets) and was similarly the largest and most complicated plumbing job (with 30-miles of pipes delivering hot, cold and drinking water to every one of its 405 rooms). Gilded with gold, sparkled by crystal and illuminated throughout with "electroliers," it was as grand as the finest ocean liners of the day. It was truly one of America's exceptional hotels.



How it all began



Lewellyn "Louis" Davenport came to Spokane Falls, Washington Territory, in the Spring of 1889 at the age of 20. He had been a frustrated clerk in San Francisco and came up to Spokane to work the summer in his uncle's "Pride of Spokane Restaurant." The summer of 1889 was fateful for Spokane and for Louis Davenport. In August, a conflagration tore through the infant metropolis, turning 32 square blocks of civilization to ashes. Young Davenport salvaged what he could from the rubble, bought a tent, and opened "Davenport's Waffle Foundry." From this humble beginning, literally as a phoenix, Davenport created a hospitality empire that became famous around the world.



Spokane rebuilt quickly after the big fire. Its downtown was "an anthill" by one description. Washington became a state that Winter and Spokane dropped the Falls from its name. With timber, mining, agriculture and the railroad pouring money and people into the region, the city of Spokane was in the middle of it all and poised to become one of the great cities of the West. Davenport recognized his opportunity and leased a brick building on the North-east corner of Sprague Avenue and Post Street the next year. He expanded his culinary offerings to nearly 100 items. Within a few years, Davenport's Restaurant was described by a critic as "the finest thing of the kind in the country." Business was so good, Davenport expanded into an adjoining building within a decade. He hired up-and-coming architect, Kirtland Cutter, to make the two buildings appear as one in 1904. Cutter offered a Mission Revival style theme. The white stucco walls and red tile roofs stood in marked contrast to every other building downtown. This remodel added the finest ballroom in the West on the second floor, the Hall of the Doges.



Building the hotel tower



The Davenport Hotel was neither Louis Davenport's idea nor was it built with his money. Leading businessmen desired a large public house in which to board and entertain their guests. They wanted a building to represent their dreams and ambitions and to speak for the ages, as architecture does, that Spokane was built by great men. Great men were sought to build and run it. Their searches for the best men of architecture and hospitality ended with their first choices, Cutter and Davenport. Leveraging Davenport's already strong name, the Davenport Hotel Company was formed in 1912 and preparation of the site began that year. The hotel tower went up in eight months of 1913 using horse carts, steam jacks and hand tools. Not a single worker was seriously injured or killed--a rarity for the time. Cutter and Davenport shopped the world for ideas and furnishings for their new hotel. They wanted it to represent the world to Spokane and be Spokane's welcome to the world. Cutter designed spaces inspired by the great architects of France, England and Spain. Davenport filled them with fine art and songbirds and prepared to seat his guests at tables dressed in the finest Irish linens from Liddell (whose linens sailed on the Titanic) and set with 15,000 pieces of silver (the largest private commission ever created by Reed and Barton). Ever since opening day, the hotel has promoted itself as "one of America's exceptional hotels." It still does. It's still true.



The September 1915 Hotel Monthly described Louis Davenport as "the man with a vision who created a hotel with a soul." Davenport was a "quiet, unassuming, earnest man," but demanded perfection in every facet of his operation. He ordered silverware be set exactly one thumbknuckle from the edge of the table; coins be washed and bills be pressed through housekeeping before being given in change; the lobby fireplace be always burning as an abiding symbol of hospitality. In all things, he wanted his staff to consider first the comfort and convenience of the guests. "When you get that 'home' feeling in the hotel," he once commented, "you get all that can be attained."



Architect Kirtland Cutter came to Spokane attracted by the same things that brought Davenport, an uncle with a job. Cutter was a frustrated bank teller by day and pursued his artistic talents at night, though he was never fully satisfied in creating works of art that only hung on the wall. Cutter found his true calling when his uncle commissioned him to draw up a house. Cutter came to view architecture as "art incarnate," and invited his patrons to step over the frame and enter a three diminensional painting in which they could work and play. Mr. Cutter lit the first fire in the hearth of all his commissions as a symbol of welcome to the new owners. Similarly, he lit the first fire at the Davenport Hotel which Mr. Davenport ordered be constantly tended as a welcome to visitors. The order still stands and while the fireplace has been converted to natural gas, it continues to burn as an abiding symbol of hospitality.

The Davenport Hotel was often called "the house of comfort." Mr. Davenport liked that description very much. "In all things," he wrote, "the hotel sincerely tries to so well please its guests that they will be glad they came, sorry to leave and eager to return." This mission statement still guides the hotel today.

Famous guests



The Davenport Hotel has been home to royalty, kings of industry, captains of commerce, stars of stage and screen and just about every American president of the 20th century. In these halls, you can walk in the shadows of great men and women including Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, Mary Pickford, Clark Gable, John Philip Sousa, Lawrence Welk, Marian Anderson, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Benny Goodman to name just a few. Authors Zane Grey and Dashiell Hammet wrote scenes in their works set at this most famous hotel in the West. A selection of archive photos and artifacts in display cases make for an enjoyable stroll along the hotel's mezzanine.



Broadcasting from their studios in The Davenport Hotel

KHQ History



The Davenport Hotel was home to the first commercially licensed radio station in Spokane--KHQ, which signed on the air in 1922. From its tower on the roof of the hotel, KHQ broadcast the first voices many people pulled from the air across the vast expanses of the Inland Northwest. KHQ featured many local bands,including The Musicaladers. That group's drummer dropped out of Gonzaga College and became world famous for his singing voice. His name wasHarry "Bing" Crosby.



KHQ radio remained a strong voice on the air for more than half a century. Both KHQ and The Davenport Hotel went dark in 1985. Spokane had lost its voice, its heart and its way.



Near death and rebirth

New Paper



Mr. Davenport sold his beloved hotel in 1945 and saw it die around him. Mr. Davenport passed away in his suite at the hotel in 1951; his wife Verus in 1967. Each successive owner through the second half of the 20th century took more than they gave to the property. The Davenport Hotel was closed in 1985 and demolition was considered. By the time the Davenport's only son died in 1987, it was generally believed that the Davenport Hotel would be destroyed. A demolition crew determined the entire block could be dropped in 20 seconds but the nightmare of airborne asbestos saved it from implosion. Dismantling and salvage was determined to be too expensive so the hotel remained closed for 15 years.



"Hope for the Davenport" was reported in March of 2000 when local entrepreneurs Walt & Karen Worthy purchased the entire city block for $6.5 million, then spent the next two years of their lives--and $38 million of their own money--to make The Davenport Hotel grand again. The hotel's public spaces and ballrooms were restored to what they would have looked like when they were new. (Yes, that's real gold leaf around the fireplace). The hotel's guest floors were taken back to bare concrete and built anew with fresh wiring, plumbing, drywall, furniture and fixtures. The Hall of the Doges, Spokane's oldest and finest ballroom, was removed from the oldest part of the structure and re-installed in the new East addition. The removal was accomplished by lifting the ballroom out intact... making it the only flying ballroom in the world.The Davenport Hotel was re-established in September of 2002 with the ringing of a ship's bell eight times signaling a change of the watch.



The Davenport Hotel stands today as a perfect blend of old and new, respecting the best of what was and embracing the best of what is. The old lobby fireplace burns again year-round as a symbol of hospitality. A new digital network invisibly ties every room of the hotel to the Internet. Spokane's finest restaurant, spa, candy shop, and book store all reside under the same roof as Spokane's finest hotel.



1950



1960

The Davenport Hotel is again "one of America's exceptional hotels."



2012

YMCA of the Inland NW
07:04 Jun 16 2012
Times Read: 485










In 1957 the YMCA purchased property on Havermale Island for the construction of a new facility. With a vision in mind, the Board of Trustees for the YMCA launched a capital drive in 1965-66 for the funds to begin construction of a facility that was dedicated on January 23rd, 1967. This building was located in the heart of Riverfront Park. This property was sold to the City of Spokane and the building has been taken down to return the area to a natural environment in which to take in the breathtaking upper falls.











It was bittersweet to see this building go down. This building is were I got my start as an associate teacher. It is where I decided I wanted to work with children and fell in love with it.

I am happy to see that the land is being returned to its natural state instead of condos that was previously discussed. It is looking so beautiful. It is call the Palisades Reconstruction Project. It is all fenced off so that it has time to grow and flourish. I cant wait until I can finally walk the new trails.

Great Northern Railroad and Clock Tower
06:20 Jun 16 2012
Times Read: 489






The Great Northern railroad came to Spokane in 1892. James J. Hill built the GN railroad and the railroad yards called Hillyard. The depot built on Havermale Island in the Spokane River cost $150,000, and was completed in 1902.



The Great Northern Depot was the finest railroad depot west of Chicago. It was made with pressed brick and trimmed with native sandstone.



The four Clock faces are 9 feet across on each side, making it the largest Clock Tower in the West. The 8 ft. pendulum and weight which powers it weigh 500 lbs. The clock has had to be wound once a week by a hand crank. A Riverfront Park employee climbs up every week to keep it running on time.

When the Riverfront Park was constructed for Expo 1974, the train station was demolished leaving the Clock Tower.

Abraham Lincoln Statue
06:11 Jun 16 2012
Times Read: 490

A bronze statue of the 16th president – depicting him as commander in chief of the Union Army – towers above the boulevard between the U.S. Courthouse and public library downtown. Its unveiling in 1930 drew 40,000 people in an outpouring of patriotism.







On the front of the statue is engraved:

"Abraham Lincoln

Commander-in-Chief of the Union Army reviewing his troops

1861 - 1865

Dedicated to the Grand Army of the Republic Department of Washington and Alaska

Old Flour Mill
05:56 Jun 16 2012
Times Read: 491




Spokane Flour Mill, West 621 Mallon



The beginning of Spokane clustered at the south side of the Spokane River. The first industries were sawmill and flourmills taking advantage of the water power. There were 4 big city mills in Spokane in 1889. They were: Echo Mill, C & C Mill, Spokane Flour Mill, and the Centennial Mills. By the time Spokane was settled the flourmills were being revised from grist mills (with two large stones) to roller mills. So Spokane’s mills were built as roller mills.





Flour mill back







In 1890, construction for a new flour mill on the north side of the river by Northwest Power and Milling Company on land owned by Spokane’s first millionaire, E.J. Brickell, was begun. The new flour Mill was needed because the Great Fire of 1889 burned down the other mills. The Great Fire happened on August 4, 1889.



Simon Oppenheimer, principal organizer of Northwest Power and Milling Company went to Amsterdam in 1895 to get funding from a dutch mortgage company for a competitor electric company and a flour mill. However by 1896, the effects of the worldwide depression of 1893 bankrupt his company, and he walked away from it. Oppenheimer fled to South America. Washington Water Powered sued over the holdings and water rights on the Spokane River for 5 years. The Flour Mill did not come into operation, however, until 1900 because the property became mired in a complex international lawsuit that was one of the most explosive and long-fought battles in the city's legal history. The City finally opened the Flour Mill in 1900.



Washington Water Power purchased the holdings for $300,000. This was an outstanding price, because it was valued at 3 million (3,000,000) dollars. The Mill building was 4-7 stories high – 4 stories on the front side, and 7 stories on the river side – with a corbel gambrel roof. The Flour Mill would get boxcars filled with wheat. Each car would have 500-600 bags of wheat. Each bag would weigh around 140 lbs. When these boxcars came, two men had to unload them. They would unload the boxcars in 2 hours.



To operate the mill, you needed power. Since there was no electricity, they used a water wheel in the river to power the rollers Roller mills used a series of different sized rollers to break up the grain kernels and grind them to flour. Rather than gears and stones, roller mills used smaller gears and belt pulley drives. The roller mills could grind more grain faster and were quieter. Roller mills were generally larger mills and signaled the decline of small grist mills.



After 80 years of operation, the Flour Mill was closed in the early 1970’s. The Flour Mill delivered flour all over the world. After WWII, the market for Pacific Northwest flour was shrinking in a tighter market. The final problem was when the Santa Fe Railroad offered lower rates for the Kansas Mills shipping to CA, and the Flour Mill just couldn’t compete with the rates. The Flour Mill got most of its wheat from Montana, North Idaho, and Eastern Washington.







After the Flour Mill closed in 1970, the building was restored and turned into a shopping and office building in 1973, in time for Spokane Expo 74. The restoration cost 2 million dollars. At this time there were only two operating flour mills left in Washington, two in Oregon, and one in Idaho. The two in Washington are both Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) owned, one in Spokane, on Trent Avenue, and one in Cheney.

Liberty Park
05:44 Jun 16 2012
Times Read: 492

Liberty Park and Ruins







In 1897, F. Lewis Clark a wealthy mining entrepreneur donated a substantial piece of property in the East Central to the city. The donation consisted of 21 acres of land to be used for a public park in the area. The donated land was bound by 3rd Avenue on the north, 5th Avenue on the south, Perry Street on the east, and Arthur Street on the west. Additions at this time had parks within them, but many were for the private use of residents of the particular addition. Aubrey L. White, the first Spokane Park Director, believed that wealthy men should give park land to the city. Previously, the city had to purchase park land for the general public. Other people donated park land as well, such as J.P. Graves who in 1903 donated 80 acres of more land to Montrose Park and changed the name to Manito Park. Most park donations had underlying goals as developers had hidden agendas. In order for the city to obtain the park land, the city had to agree to irrigate the park or agree to other concessions. In the case of Liberty Park, the city had to agree to grade the southern border, 5th Avenue, and invest $6,000 into the park over the next three years.







Liberty Park was officially named in 1898 when 165 residents of the adjacent Liberty Place Addition signed a petition to name the park. That same year, Kirtland Cutter, a well-known Spokane architect donated the original park design. Spokane had no formal parks department at this time, and as a result some of Cutter’s original plan was an expensive undertaking for the time period. Cutter had originally suggested a waterfall run over one area of the high basalt cliffs. Although the waterfall was not completed, a small rock shelter near the small lake was finished and used during the winter months. The shelter provided a resting place for ice skaters and a fireplace for warmth. Later in 1908, while drafting the city’s first park plan, the Olmsted Brothers of Brookline, MA said that Liberty Park is “so much broken into hills and valleys with abrupt slopes and prominent projecting ledges that it is capable of uncommonly picturesque landscape gardening development.” The firm recommended a new design which included the planting of trees, a stone pergola with octagon shelters at either end, play areas for children and tennis courts. The redesign of Liberty Park was completed in 1913.







Liberty Park was a well-known attraction in Spokane like Natatorium Park and Manito Park. Numerous postcards, pictures and newspaper articles portray the sites of the park, establishing it as a widely recognized emblem of Spokane. The park had a dedicated streetcar which made visiting easier. In 1920, the park boasted the first public pool in Spokane. Other than the pool, wading pools and playgrounds, Liberty Park drew crowds for its geographic diversity and natural beauty. Unfortunately, in the 1960’s, 19 of the park’s original 21 acres were sold to the Department of Transportation and the new interstate (I-90). The new interstate right-of-way essentially bisected the neighborhood, along with the beautiful park. Although the park was enlarged to the east, little of the parks original design and features were left. Today, all that is left of the original designs are disjointed trails of basalt and a section of basalt ruins northwest of the interstate. Neighborhood members tend to call the area Liberty Park Ruins or the Ruins of Liberty Park. The ruins can still be visited although they can be a little tricky to find.