Trent Alley, Chinatown markers to showcase ‘rich Asian American history’ in Spokane

A three-block stretch on the east side of downtown Spokane used to be a bustling Japanese business district known as Trent Alley. The Immigration Act of 1924, the Great Depression and, later, Expo ‘74 led to its demise.

Historical markers honoring Trent Alley and Chinatown were unveiled Friday in Riverfront Park as part of an Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month celebration.

“Spokane has a rich, rich Asian American history (that) dates back to the 1800s, but we never really hear about it,” said Vina Cathcart, cofounder of Spokane’s United We Stand.

The nonprofit organized Asian Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage Days, which continues Saturday.

According to the Trent Alley marker, Japanese immigrants, known as Issei, settled in the Spokane area looking for railroad and mining work. Discrimination forced them into a small area bounded by Spokane Falls Boulevard and Main Avenue on the east side of downtown.

“Deemed rough and lawless by many residents of Spokane, Trent Alley became a thriving district for Japanese-owned restaurants, laundries, hotels, fish markets, barbershops, and pool halls,” the marker reads.

More than 1,000 residents lived in the neighborhood by 1910, but the Immigration Act of 1924 and the Great Depression took a toll, leaving 385 Japanese residents by 1935. Trent Alley was nearly gone by the 1950s and demolished in the 1970s to make room for the World’s Fair in 1974, according to the marker.

Joanne Ferris, vice president of the Hifumi Society, which promotes Japanese culture, helped bring the Trent Alley marker into existence. Nick Whelan, a history teacher at Ferris High School and Ferris’ son-in-law, authored the Trent Alley marker.

Ferris said the marker idea stemmed from Ed Tsutakawa, who helped form Spokane’s Sister City bond with Nishinomiya, Japan, and the Nishinomiya Tsutakawa Japanese Garden in Manito Park. Tsutakawa wrote about 50 years ago that a marker should be created to honor Trent Alley, which was to be torn down for Expo ‘74.

“It kind of fell by the wayside because they knew they would demolish the last pieces of Trent Alley,” Ferris said.

Ferris said her father lived in Trent Alley, attended Lewis and Clark High School and then Whitworth University before returning to Spokane to practice medicine. His first office was near where the Mango Tree restaurant is located today at Main Avenue and Washington Street.

She said her father endured discrimination in Spokane, especially during World War II as many Japanese-Americans fled to Spokane to avoid internment camps.

“It was tough to be in the camps and tough to be out where you had no protection, so I think it’s really an honor to them and their tenacity,” Ferris said of the marker. “And that’s why I get to live my dream, my children get to live their dream and pretty soon my grandson.”

She said her father talked about racism he faced, but “they never dwelled on it at all,” she said. Ferris said her father mostly talked about the fun they had growing up in Trent Alley.

The Chinatown marker features a poem written by Chan, Won Kwok, a Chinese immigrant who immigrated to Seattle in 1920 before settling in Spokane.

Namva Chan, an attorney and owner of Chinese restaurants, read her grandfather’s poem at Friday’s unveiling.

She said her grandfather was a businessman who opened Chinese Gardens restaurant in the 1940s. The restaurant still exists today on East Trent Avenue. Namva Chan also owns Red Dragon restaurants and Chan’s Noodle House and Dumplings in Spokane. The first Red Dragon opened in 1946.

She said she and others found the poem, written in Chinese, on top of her grandfather’s paperwork in a box. The short poem is written in Chinese and English on the marker.

“If you read it, it’s very moving and it speaks to the experience of the early immigrants to the U.S. and the hardships they endured,” Namva Chan said.

The poem moved her and others to tears when they found it.

“It is so on point to the immigrant experience that it just made everybody cry,” she said.

Like Ferris, Namva Chan said she is grateful for people like her grandfather who paved the way for future Asian American generations.

Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward read a proclamation for Asian American Heritage Month at the unveiling. Spokane City Councilman Michael Cathcart, who is married to Vina Cathcart, and Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels also addressed the crowd.

“These markers honor the true history of Spokane’s historical Asian American districts and honors those individuals who created community just steps away from where we are presently standing,” Cathcart said.

The Trent Alley marker will be placed at the Saranac building on Main Avenue, and the Chinatown marker will be installed at the Fruchi Building on Bernard Street.

Heritage Days resumes 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday with live performances, Asian Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander food trucks and more.