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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Then and Now: City bears imprint of pioneer builder

James Monaghan, born in 1839, emigrated from Ireland in 1856 and came to the Washington Territory in 1858, working various jobs along the Columbia River. In those days, Walla Walla and Colville were populous business centers, and Fort Spokane was a dangerous frontier outpost.

For several years, Monaghan traveled between towns and worked as a builder, ferry operator, homesteader, storekeeper and postmaster. In 1865, the territorial legislature gave Monaghan and William Nix a franchise to build a bridge over the Spokane River, allowing them to charge a fee for foot passengers and wagons traveling to and from Colville. Monaghan also operated a stagecoach line.

After several years in Walla Walla, Chewelah and Colville, he moved to Spokane in 1879. He helped map and prepare the railroad bed from Spokane to Coeur d’Alene, and he built roads, including the one miners took from Kingston to Murray in search of gold in Idaho’s Silver Valley.

Monaghan was one of 15 who signed the original Spokane City Charter. He later pooled his money with partners in 1898 to buy the Granite Building, a stately edifice built of granite block. The building had been financed by the Northwest and Pacific Hypotheek Bank and was lost in the financial panic of 1893.

Monaghan sat on bank boards and ran many successful businesses. In the midst of all his success, tragedy struck when Margaret, his wife, died in 1895. Further tragedy occurred when John Robert Monaghan, the eldest of the family’s six children, was killed in a skirmish with natives in Samoa in 1899. The Navy was attempting to intervene in a battle between Samoans and the German navy. John, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, was called a hero for refusing to leave the side of a dying comrade when faced with dozens of armed attackers. He was honored with a statue in downtown Spokane in 1906.

James Monaghan died in 1916, leaving his fortune to his children. In 1928, the family sold the Granite to the heirs of August Paulsen, who built the Paulsen Medical and Dental Building on the site.

Spokane historian Nelson Durham wrote of Monaghan, “He came to the west when the Indians were more numerous than the white settlers, when hardships and dangers were the lot of every pioneer, but he recognized the opportunities of the new country with its undeveloped resources and taking advantage of these he has steadily advanced in the business world.”

– Jesse Tinsley