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Spokane Falls in 1957.
Photo Archive Sr
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Hundreds gathered for the grand opening of the Fox Theater on September 3, 1931.
Photo Archive Sr
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Copy photo of Babe Ruth (left) standing in front of the Davenport Hotel, Spokane, from the 1930s
Photo Archive Sr
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This civil rights march took place in March 1965 at the Spokane County Courthouse. Two of the marchers, Sam and Verda Minnix are pictured to the left. Paul Tursh, hiding behind the "Freedom Now" sign skipped high school the day of the march to join in the demonstration. Sam and Verda Minnix and Paul Tursh At the Civil Rights March
Photo Archive Sr
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1890 - While most buildings are still coverd with scaffolding, the Ziegler Building, seen at left with awnings on the windows, was completed within months of the massive 1889 fire that destroyed most of downtown Spokane, including the original Ziegler hardware store. Owner Louis Ziegler was proud that it bore the date 1889, though it may have taken until 1890 to fully complete the entire structure. At five stories plus an elaborate cornice, it was the tallest building in town until the Review Tower was completed in 1891. It was torn down in 1952 to make way for the Fidelity Savings building. Original caption: Spokane Falls businesses made great progress in rebuilding the downtown area just a year after the devastating fire of 1889. The Ziegler Building, pictured on the left with awnings, was the tallest high-rise built immediately following the fire. It stood on the northeast corner of Riverside and Howard. THEN AND NOW Louis Ziegler faced many fiery trials. He arrived in the United States from Germany in 1852 at 15 and became a wagon maker in Kentucky. He opened his own wagon shop in Chenoa, Illinois in 1863 and did well until a massive fire claimed his buildings in 1870. Discouraged, he went back to his Bavarian home for a few years but returned in 1873 and bought into a flourmill back in Chenoa. It did well until another fire in 1876. With great resolve, he rebuilt and started over, but another fire in 1878 left him penniless. During this trying time he served as Justice of the Peace and the towns mayor. He also joined the local Masonic lodge, which would become a large part of his life. After the last fire, Ziegler and his wife Margaret headed west and settled in Spokane in 1879. He built a wood frame commercial building at Riverside and Howard and opened a hardware business. He also helped found Spokanes first Masonic lodge in 1880. He fervently believed in the Masonic philosophy of high moral conduct and self-improvement. The Zieglers Lutheran home welco
Photo Archive Sr
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The first locomotive to be completely built in an American railroad shop came rolling out of the Hillyard yard. This picture, taken on June 19, 1929, show the Great Northern Class R-1 Mallet. In all, 26 Mallets were produced in Hillyard between 1927 and 1930. At that time they were the largest, most powerful steam locomotives ever built.
Photo Archive Sr
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On June 5, 1885, the Kleigman and Smith freighting outfit used a mule train to haul freight from Spokane to Northport, Wash. The cupola of what was Gonzaga College at the time shows just above the horizon at right. Although the first transcontinental railroad connected through Spokane in 1882, north-south travel was still laborious and slow, by saddle or in wagons for long trips to places like Colville and Northport. Keen businessmen were eager to supply the hardy settlers in those places and many tons of freight inched along dusty trails. In addition to food staples, dry goods and hardware, liquor and beer was a profitable cargo. In 1886, James "Jimmie" Durkin arrived in Colville with $2,500 in his pocket. He looked at what bar owners in the rural areas were paying to have bottles of liquor hauled from Spokane by wagon train. After calculating shipping costs, he opened a liquor trading business and began hauling firewater in barrels to save on shipping costs. In a few years, Durkin was a wealthy man. He moved his family and business to Spokane in 1897, opening a bar on the Northwest corner of Sprague and Mill St., now called Wall St. The energetic proprietor was famous for constant promotion and advertising. He hired a sign painter to put "Jimmie Durkin's Fine Wines and Liquor" on every boulder along roads leading to Spokane. In 1907, he good-naturedly let an anti-alcohol crusading preacher redecorate his windows with temperance messages. Business soared. When Prohibition arrived, Durkin was already a rich man and he sold his bar. He was a popular character who loved to talk politics and his atheist views. After his death in 1934, The Spokesman-Review said: "He belonged to the vanishing race of individualists, men who developed in original molds and not in the machine standardization of today."
Photo Archive Sr
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The start of Bloomsday 1977.
Christopher Anderson The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
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Spokane's sparkling world's fair, was a special nighttime attraction for the six months. The fairgrounds are shown while the water ran high in the Spokane River bed.
Larry Reisnouer The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
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Kids catch on fast - It didn't take youngsters long to get the hang of pulling out nice rainbows. Left to right are Jetty Jo Thomlinson, 7; Harmon Clark, 11; Allan Thomlinson (seated), 5, and Larry Thomlinson, 8, all of Union Gap and Lysbeth Fouts, 11, of Richland with George May, 13, Kennewick, trying their luck at the stream which flows into Park lake. Harmon and Larry hold the fruits of the efforts. A second after this was taken, George tied into a 13-incher.
Frank Parker Sr
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Advanced student flyers of the Wallace Air Service, one of three pilot training schools at Felts Field, are pictured standing at the back of the "fast" new Ryan training plane with their instructor in 1940. Pictured left to right are: Bob Hawley, Art Villar, Robert Bennison, Stan Doepke, H.M. Yake, Ken Gibbs and instructor, Lloyd Hardesty.
Photo Archive Sr