Then and Now this week: The Whitten Block

This week’s Then and Now column is about the Whitten Block , which was built in 1890 by L.B. Whitten, one of Spokane’s earliest entrepreneurs. He died in 1927. But his family’s story takes a sad turn with mental illness and a murder. The building is now a complex that includes the adjacent Miller building and houses the Hotel Lusso. On the first floor is the Post St. Ale House, a popular spot for lovers of craft beer. Written died in 1927, but a son, Paul Whitten, lived with his mother into adulthood. He’d never had a job and exhibited mental illness and had a drinking problem. In 1946, in a drunken stupor, he murdered a man hired by his mother to do odd jobs. He was sent to Eastern State Hospital instead of prison. Read the sad story here .