Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

An ambitious new plan was unveiled to build a dam on the Spokane River, just below Fort George Wright, which would create a huge new lake and submerge the Bowl and Pitcher site.

The 65-foot-high dam was to be built about 5 miles downstream from the Monroe Street Bridge by a new entity called Spokane Valley Power Co. 

“We are going into the power business to furnish light and power to all persons wanting it from us,” said one of the backers of the project. 

He said it would harness all of the river’s power potential from the mouth of Hangman Creek all the way to the backwater of the already existing Nine Mile dam. It would also “improve all park tracts along the river near there,” he said.

Did this project ever happen? Just take a stroll down to Bowl and Pitcher at Riverside State Park. It remains unsubmerged.

From the health beat: The new county infirmary at Spangle, built at the cost of $165,000, was completed and ready to open. A dedication ceremony was set for later in the week, and special excursion trains were planned to take visitors to the opening.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1951: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were sentenced to death following their conviction in New York on charges of conspiring to commit espionage for the Soviet Union.