This 1908 photo of the James Glover mansion shows the Tudor style conceived by Kirtland Cutter when it was built in 1888. Glover lost the house in the economic panic of 1893. Spokane’s earliest history is that of ambitious, business-minded men who saw the region’s potential. James Nettle Glover was born in 1837 and came west on the Oregon Trail. After some years in Oregon, he traveled to Spokan Falls in 1873 and used the Land Act of 1820 to gain title to the town site originally settled by James Downing and Seth Scranton. Glover and his partners started a mill, a bank, a livery stable and other businesses. Glover convinced General Sherman to station soldiers in Spokane in 1877 to repel warring Indian tribes and under their security Spokan Falls flourished. Glover recruited doctors, merchants, lawyers and ministers to populate the downtown street plan he laid out, which is why Glover is still called the “Father of Spokane”. Glover’s new home, designed by Kirtland Cutter, at 321 Eight Ave. cost $100,000 in 1888. In the economic panic of 1893, Glover lost most of his money and the house was taken by the bank. He recovered his fortune and was listed as one of Spokane’s richest citizens again in 1903. Glover died in 1921.
The Spokesman-Review Photo Archive Sr