Walls Of Stone

Just a stone’s throw from mini-malls, freeway ramps and look-alike tract homes, you can still catch a glimpse of the Spokane Valley’s rocky origins.

Scattered throughout the Valley are porches, foundations, low walls, well towers and a few whole houses built from stones gathered by early residents - rock-solid evidence of their resourcefulness, strong backs and resolve to make the land produce.

“This has been farm and dairyland and orchards for 100 years,” said Trentwood resident Penny Simonson, whose sturdy home features a patterned stone porch, foundation, and garden walls. “Now, flash forward to 1995, and we’re still moving rocks out of our garden!”

Simonson’s home at 13409 E. Wellesley was built in 1911 for physician Louis Bennett. Behind the house Simonson operates an antique store in a small barn that still smells faintly of the apples once stored there.

“To me the river rocks are pieces of history that tell how hard the early settlers worked to make the Valley the wonderful farmland it was,” she said, “not the urban sprawl it is.”

Tumbled smooth more than 15,000 years ago, a generous supply of rounded stones “paved” the Spokane Valley when Ice Age floods shaped the region.

“It’s possible that some of those rocks traveled from as far away as Wyoming and Montana,” said Joan Mattson, state geologist for the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service. A 1920s soil survey from Mattson’s agency described the debris as “a mantle of well-rounded, medium-sized fragments of … granite, schist or quartzite - which is from 100 to 300 feet thick throughout the valley.” The report continues, “Tillage is comparatively easy as the gravel does not seriously interfere.”

Early farmers might have disagreed. “Very little could be plowed without clearing it of rocks,” Valley historian J. Howard Stegner wrote in a 1956 newspaper article.

“One Minnesota German settler … told me that he hauled 80 wagonloads of rock from 20 acres,” said Stegner. In the days before the spring tooth harrow and the disc, blacksmiths fashioned long spikes for Valley farmers to drag behind teams of mules or horses, “combing” rocks to the surface.

Shortly after the turn of the century, entrepreneur Donald Kennedy McDonald and his partners saw the potential of the area, and tapped the Valley’s aquifer with hand-dug wells. The businessmen established the first irrigation and power districts, bought large tracts of land, and divided them into 5- and 10-acre parcels. Between rows of fruit trees, settlers planted potatoes, berries and melons. Within a generation, the Spokane Valley became famous for producing apples and “Hearts of Gold” cantaloupe.

Named after McDonald’s daughter, Vera, the Vera Power and Light Company’s landmark well tower is built from field stones, as is the small pump house nestled beside it at 601 N. Evergreen. They are listed on the national register of historical landmarks by the American Waterworks Association.

McDonald’s own Valley home also still stands on its rock base at 15103 E. Valleyway, in the neighborly company of at least eight other partially rocked homes along the same street.

In 1935, carpenter Wallace Latterell and his wife Margaret built a small home at 530 N. Flora. Using evenly sized stones gathered from their surrounding few acres, they styled arches and carefully finished doorways.

They eventually sold the home to the mother of its current occupant, the Rev. Edward Kowrach. Now retired, Kowrach is still an active historian and archivist for the Catholic Diocese of Spokane, and has published 19 books about Northwest history.

“There is historical value in the stone buildings, of course,” Kowrach said, “but there was economic value too, because the stones they picked up cost nothing.” Kowrach interviewed Margaret Latterell in 1993, and asked her for details about the home’s fine construction and woodwork.

“We hitched the mule to a cart and picked up the rocks on the weekends. For years after we picked up rocks, too,” Margaret Lattrell remembered. She said the remarkably plumb walls were built in sections. “The secret was to do about 20 inches at a time and mix fresh concrete for each part we did. I would carry the rocks and he would set them … we would let the concrete dry before we did another part.

“The wood trim came from the old Ridpath Hotel when it was torn down. We got the wood free for hauling it away. We had very little money so we had to do with what we had.”

David and Elaine Welk feel a warm affinity for their stone house at Heritage Herb Farm, 11901 E. Broadway. The couple have labored to reseat loose stones in the porch pillars and retaining walls that embrace the 1919 Craftsman-style dwelling.

“You get caught up in the commitment of the builders,” said Elaine. “They did it one rock at a time, and you have to appreciate that.”

David said that the 18-inch thick walls keep the house warm in winter and cool in the summer. “It doesn’t require a lot of care most of the time,” commented David, “but when it does, it’s a major commitment.”

“We love it when the siding sales people call,” laughed Elaine.

Stonemason Jim Dierks has a special appreciation for the Valley’s historic rock houses.

“People took a lot of pride in their work in those days,” he said. “There’s not many real craftsmen anymore who take the time to build like that. Now it’s such a rush-rush world…”

“Maybe it’s because I’m older that I appreciate these old homes. They’re unique, and when they’re gone - well, I hope I am too.”

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: FREE FOR THE TAKING Anachronistic amid huge variety stores, blocks of apartment buildings and car lots, a small stone bungalow awaits its fate at 15704 E. Sprague. A sign in its front yard reads, “Future Site of Discount Muffler Store #2.” Property owner Al Akers keeps the 1917 house rented for now, but needs to remove it to build the muffler store on the site next year. “You could say it’s up for adoption,” said Akers. “Anybody that’s interested in that house is welcome to it, if they’ll pay to move it.” Akers already has had two nibbles, but no bites. “I’m told it’s possible to move it,” he said, “if someone wants it bad enough.” House movers agree that it could be moved, but at a pretty steep cost. One mover made a ballpark guess of between $20,000 and $30,000. “What’s involved to stabilize it for moving is a pretty big job,” said Greg Munyon. He explained the home would need to be braced with cross timbers and welded metal plates before it could be jacked onto a trailer. Akers hopes that someone will care enough to do it. And if not? “Well, I’ll have to have it bulldozed down.” Akers can be reached at 926-6271. Suzanne Pate