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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Jim Kershner’s This day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

The Spokane City Council was presented with an ambitious new proposal in 1910: A new, modern city hall and “city center,” complete with a tall, ornate clock tower.

The proposal called for spreading the building over three lots on Riverside Avenue between Madison and Jefferson streets. It would start at a point just west of the Masonic Temple and include the city jail, the city stables and even the fire department.

“It overlooks the river and is said to have splendid scenic value,” reported the Spokane Daily Chronicle.

Maybe it was a little too ambitious. It never happened.

From the fair file: The organizers of the Interstate Fair promised something apparently unusual for the 1910 fair: “Clean, moral shows and an absolute ban on gambling.”

They also intended to clean up the midway games, which were sometimes more like con games. The management said it “will insist that every concessionaire sign an iron-clad agreement to display his prices in large figures in a conspicuous place.”

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1945: Three days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, the United States exploded a nuclear device over Nagasaki, killing an estimated 74,000 people. … 1974: President Richard Nixon’s resignation took effect. Vice President Gerald R. Ford became the nation’s 38th chief executive.