Jim Kershner’s This day in history » On the Web: spokesman.com/topics/local-history

From our archives, 100 years ago

Amasa B. Campbell passed away quietly at his mansion in Browne’s Addition – a mansion now known as Campbell House at the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture.

Campbell had endured a months-long struggle with an unspecified throat ailment. He had been unable to eat or speak above a whisper for weeks. He was 66.

He began as a railroad and mining man in Nebraska and Utah, but in 1887 he joined with John A. Finch to develop the Gem Mine near Wallace, and later the Standoff Mine in Mace, Idaho. In the 1890s he acquired lucrative mines in the Slocan district in British Columbia. He also had a considerable investment in the Hecla Mine at Burke, Idaho.

He was survived by his wife, Grace, and a daughter, Helen.

His obituary noted that he was a “generous supporter of all local charities” and a “liberal contributor to all public enterprises.” He donated the Carnegie Library site to the city. 

Helen Campbell would eventually donate the family mansion to the Eastern Washington State Historical Society, where it served as a museum – and still serves as the MAC’s biggest and most popular “artifact.”

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1947: The Voice of America began broadcasting to the Soviet Union.