Then and Now: The Fernwell Building bolstered Spokane’s early business district

Rollin C. Hyde, born in 1859 in Wisconsin, followed his brothers Samuel and Eugene to Spokane Falls in 1881 and began working in real estate.

Brother Sam was the new federal judge in town, and Eugene quickly stepped into service as the town marshal but also worked in real estate. Then came the 1889 fire. Eugene’s first building and many others were lost in the fire.

While Eugene rebuilt down the street, Rollin purchased the lot on the corner of Stevens Street and Riverside Avenue from city father James Glover and built his own six-story block. The magnificent 1891 building helped cement Riverside as the downtown business center.

In 1890, Rollin’s wife, Mary, gave birth to their first child, a son named Fernwell, who died before he was 6 months old. In tribute, the Hydes put the baby’s name on the building in 1893. But the building wasn’t returning their $135,000 investment fast enough.

In the rush for bragging rights to the tallest building in the new city center, multistory brick buildings, many with few or no elevators, offered a glut of office space for doctors, dentists and lawyers. Rollin was overextended and went bankrupt in 1898, and his building was sold. After losing his Spokane holdings, Rollin moved to Twin Falls, Idaho.

Levi Hutton bought the Fernwell Building in 1914 and when he died in 1928, left it with his estate, which supported the children of the Hutton Settlement. In the late 1960s, the upper floors were closed because the building needed repairs. The building stayed with the Hutton estate until the 1970s.

For decades, the Fernwell was home to Harvey’s men’s clothing store, previously called Emery’s. The building was remodeled in the 1980s, and today much of the first floor is occupied by Columbia Bank.

Rollin Hyde died in 1945.