Mission accomplished, Friends of the Davenport Hotel disband
By John Webster
The Spokesman-Review
The historic Davenport Hotel
Gallery: Davenport Hotel historical photos
The Davenport Hotel opened in September 1914. It was the culmination of many years of planning by restaurateur Louis Davenport.
Gallery: The Davenport Hotel, present day
The historic Davenport Hotel in downtown Spokane, Wash., was designed by architect Kirtland Cutter and open in 1914. The hotel is named after Louis Davenport, it first first owner and overseer of the project.
Dorothy Powers: Reopened Davenport taught Spokane to dream again
By Dorothy Rochon Powers
For the Spokesman-Review
(This article was written in July 2002.)
Nobody can take away a dream and nobody did.
Rather, for 17 years, lots of us nurtured and guarded a mutual dream and fed it with hope.
The object of that dream – a gloriously refurbished Davenport Hotel – now turns the tables on us and bequeaths us the gift of a civic lifetime.
It is this: Spirit.
Dorothy Powers: All who met life’s joys at the Davenport Hotel mourned its closure
By Dorothy Rochon Powers
For the Spokesman-Review
(This article first appeared on June 27, 1985.)
This column is not for the “greats.”
It’s not for the presidents, statesmen, entertainers and heads of foreign governments who have stayed at the world-famous Davenport Hotel in downtown Spokane.
Rather, it’s for those of us here in Spokane who have lived with the grande dame of our hotels all these years and who will feel nostalgic sadness when her heart stops this weekend.
1914 technology: ice, electricity, telephones, porcelain tubs
When the Davenport Hotel opened on August 30, 1914, a 10-page section of The Spokesman-Review trumpeted the new building’s marvels. Headlines and opening paragraphs included these: “Hotel to make its ice. Complete and unique refrigerator system ... Five tons of ice a day.” “The Davenport hotel ice-making, water-cooling and refrigerating plant demonstrates one of the most complete and unique systems of its kind in the hotel service of the United States.”
ESPN anchors often surprise the Davenport with free advertising
By John Webster
The Spokesman-Review
Davenport Hotel timeline
103 years after it opened, here's a look at the history of downtown Spokane's Davenport Hotel, hitting on years with major developments along the way that impacted the rise, fall and eventual re-emergence of the iconic business structure.
