Spokane7
53°
December 5, 2011 in City
Then and Now photos: The Clocktower
Former railroad depot fixture stands as monument to bygone era
March 18, 1930: The Great Northern Railroad depot Clocktower stands guard over the rail yard.
(Full-size photo)(All photos)
The iconic Riverfront Park Clocktower was completed in 1902 as the centerpiece of the Great Northern Railroad depot. For decades it cast its shadow over Spokanites rushing to board trains, and it watched thousands of freight cars rumble past. But by the early 1970s, as songwriter Steve Goodman was singing about “the disappearing railroad blues,” plans were made to demolish the aging depot and remove the rails to make way for Expo ’74. The elegant tower, which stands 155 feet tall and has a hand-wound, four-sided clock, was spared. Burlington Northern donated the land and the tower, which, according to a brass plaque on its side, “stands as a monument to the railroad industry and its role in the development of Spokane and the Pacific Northwest.”
On the Web: Find more historical photos with present-day comparisons at
– Jesse Tinsley
Man dies following early Saturday accident 
jimmy on December 05 at 11:24 a.m.
should publish this photo daily, people need to know that tower was attached to a beautiful building that would have been a centerpiece to the park that is there now. I have had many people ask me why there is a clock tower there, and I explain there was a building attached. When they ask where it went, I point to that man made hill and say it’s buried there.
Spokane_Citizen on December 05 at 6:12 p.m.
The building isn’t ‘buried’ in the hill…you can plainly see the roofline of the old station on the clocktower (the station building, prior to demolition, was a just a dilapidated old mess).
Jimmy, having spent much of my long life in Spokane (outside of military service to this great country) I assert that Riverfront Park, with the clock tower as a remnant of that area’s past abject skid-row squalor, is much more beautiful than any building currently existing in the downtown core. It’s Spokane’s ‘Central Park’, and visitors are delighted with its beauty.
brianrbreen on December 05 at 7:38 p.m.
@Spokane_Citizen
“skid-row squalor”
Obviously you never had the pleasure of having a burger and a malt at Cy’s Corner, and you rich kids never had your hair cut at Moler Barber College for a $1.00. To say nothing of taking a leak in those huge marble urinals at the UP Depot. It was a beautiful area with a lot of great character.
Spokane_Citizen on December 05 at 7:50 p.m.
Brian, my people go back well over 130 years in Spokane. Done it all.
While the huge marble urinals were magnificent, the area was pretty damn depressing by the early 1970’s (apparently grand communal pissing lost its allure)….and its character (as observed from a paddy wagon) is sadly over-rated in retrospective nostalgia.
You know, you ain’t the average cop of that era….you write well, and still have a fully functioning liver!
Pigrobin on December 05 at 8:40 p.m.
I would not have guessed this would be a thread about the glory of marble urinals. But it did have me reminisce on the vomitoriums at Gutersloh, a small air base in Germany. Chest high…no commode hugging for the overindulgent.
brianrbreen on December 06 at 7:26 a.m.
@Spokane_Citizen
I was just kidding of course, it was getting bad in that area. But the UP Depot was a grand old place and I spent many an hour in there often being baby sat by the Red Caps while my dad was working. My upbringing and that baby sitting by Booker and the other Red Caps, really helped to shape my understanding that people are just people no matter what color. Which became very important later in my life.
Since you mentioned the Police Guild watering hole some time back. I will just let you know that the watering hole for the young cops after work when the Police Station was at 242 West Riverside was at what we called “The Rusty Rivet” , which was under the viaduct in the parking lot just West of the UP Depot. The older cops could afford to go to Kelley’s or the Sukiyaki. I’m not sure how my liver has made it this long.
I hated that Paddy Wagon (Car 50), I embarrassed myself every time I tried to parallel park it in front of the station on Riverside. The poor drunks had a heck of a time getting bounced around in back and used to yell all kinds of things at me. The older cops would stand around making fun of me. The only one worse than me at parking that thing was Tony Bamonte.
I’ll tell you this though, as dilapidated as that area, and the area of 400 West Main were, some great people lived and worked down there, and the best job I ever had was walking a Downtown Beat. Still got my call box key.
The downtown used to be hopping, and every Christmas there was a cop on every corner directing vehicle and pedestrian traffic. For some reason back then, not that we were any better at what we did, but people did respect us. Ah heck…for the good old days.
Remember the Post Street Market? I wish the SR would resurrect a photo of that.