Welcome to the Then and Now blog

Welcome to the new Then and Now blog at Spokesman.com

It is a wonderful opportunity to share even more of old Spokane and the Inland Empire with the readers of the Monday Then and Now feature in The Spokesman-Review. Since 2011, I have been pairing historic and nostalgic photos with photos taken in the current era of the same places to show the tremendous changes the city and region have undergone since James Glover took over the settlement of Spokane Falls in the early 1870s.  The changes came at the hands of a fascinating group of upstart entrepreneurs, bankers, creative people and blue-collar craftsmen and builders. A few were scoundrels, but many were unique personalities who contributed greatly to what Spokane has become. Thanks to all the readers who have called and emailed your comments, recollections and, especially, corrections to my occasional mistakes. I welcome your continued input.

One of my favorite comments was from the elderly man who left me a phone message saying he got off the train in Spokane as an 18-year-old on the day of the streetcar parade in 1936, the day when some streetcars were taken to Natatorium Park and burned as the centerpiece of a celebration. He was expecting his friends to meet his train, but they were celebrating at Nat Park instead.

- Jesse Tinsley