Topics
Local History
Summary
How things have changed
Every Monday in The Spokesman-Review we bring you a new installment of Then & Now, a photo feature showing historic and modern images of places around Spokane.
See more of Then & Now online.
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Jim Kershner’s ‘This day in history’
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This day in history: Amtrak route through Spokane and Missoula was on chopping block.15-minute downtown parking limit proposed
From 1976: The federal government announced plans to slash Amtrak funding, which would eliminate one of the two major passenger train routes in Spokane.
This day in history: Spokane woman was among first women nominated to West Point. Dozens of bootleggers were sentenced.
From 1976: Among the 75 Spokane applicants to the nation’s military academies, 15 were women.
This day in history: Chronicle begins running Doonesbury. Spokane inmate sawed his way through Sandpoint jail
From 1976: The Spokane Daily Chronicle announced the launch of two new comic strips: B.C. and Doonesbury.
This day in history: Fire destroyed the home of a Vietnamese refugee family resettled in Spokane
From 1976: A Vietnamese refugee family was attending an English language class when they learned that their home on West 14th Avenue went up in smoke.
This day in history: A plane crash with no victim turned out to be the work of an inept ‘joyrider’
From 1976: Someone stole a Cessna 150 from Felts Field and crashed it into a gravel pit at Eighth Avenue and Carnahan Road.
This day in history: Fog forces flights to divert to Fairchild. Daily Chronicle to crown ‘Baby Spokane’
From 1976: Six Northwest Airlines flights touched down in Spokane – but not at Spokane International Airport.
This day in history: City likely wouldn’t meet federal clean air standards. CdA faces juvenile crime spree
From 1976: Spokane would be unable to meet federal air quality standards in 1976 without some additional clean air programs, said Fred Shiosaki, director of the Spokane County Air Pollution …
This day in history: Ground was broken on one of Spokane’s unique landmarks. Bootleggers’ secrets revealed
From 1976: Groundbreaking was scheduled later in the week for the distinctively shaped Spokane County Social and Health Services Center, which was intended to house all departments of the Spokane …
This day in history: Undercover reporter who was ‘thirsty as a storage battery’ discovered free flowing booze
From 1976: The Spokane Daily Chronicle reported that the Spokane Valley area wasn’t the only suburb with a population boom – the area north of Spokane was increasingly popular.
This day in history: How two Eastern Washington boys survived two weeks stranded on Mount Hood
From 1976: Three teenage mountaineers, including two from the Walla Walla area, stumbled off Mount Hood after being trapped for two weeks by storms.
This day in history: Willie, the parrot who cried for help, could not be helped. Spokane Coyotes prepared for radio debut
From 1976: More than 50 South Hill residents reported hearing a mysterious character crying for “Help!” from somewhere up in the trees.
This day in history: Lewis and Clark High School traded vandalism with North Central in preparation for rivalry game
From 1976: Fairchild Air Force Base security personnel – including a police canine – searched nearly 300 cars entering and leaving the base.
This day in history: Before Spokane was an entertainment destination, some blamed union salaries
From 1976: Was the local stagehands union causing entertainment acts to skip Spokane?
This day in history: Mail-bomb murder case comes to close with 24-year-old sentenced to life in prison; Oil barrel explosions in Veradale burns warehouse
From 1976: Ricky Anthony Young, 24, was sentenced to a life term for the mail-bomb murder of Judge James. J. Lawless in Pasco.
This day in history: Proposed Valley shopping center hit snag. Bootlegger shot during arrest gets 1-day sentence
From 1976: Developer James S. Black proposed a major shopping center in the Spokane Valley at Broadway and Sullivan Road but the Spokane County Planning Commission put the brakes on …
This day in history: Disturbing dumping at Salvation Army drop boxes spurred a new way of doing business
From 1976: Some of the people who donated to the Salvation Army’s drop boxes were less than charitable.
This day in history: Thieves were stealing cedar trees. Former KKK grand dragon in Spokane alleged he was cheated
From 1976: A new breed of rustlers were prowling the backwoods of North Idaho: Cedar rustlers.
This day in history: Man accused of killing mom, sister and nephews charged. Black club in Spokane targeted in Prohibition raid
This day in history: A gunman killed four members of his family, including two children
From 1976: Four people – including two children – were found dead in a home 5 miles south of Spokane, and a 27-year-old man was arrested for the shooting.
This day in history: Why a World War I veteran was denied membership in the American Legion. Plus, an angry crowd swarmed Spokane City Council
From 1976: An angry crowd thronged the Spokane City Council meeting to defend what one man called “the last frontier of liberty” – a person’s home.
This day in history: Riders miffed by 10-cent bus fare increase. Feds stage nighttime Prohibition raid
From 1976: Bus fares in Spokane jumped from 25 cents to 35 cents, and passengers were not happy.
This day in history: How Gonzaga economists suggested people cope with inflation in 1975
From 1976: Two Gonzaga University economics professors offered tips on how to live with the new economic reality: high inflation.
This day in history: Refugee family settled into life in Spokane. Broadway start returned for show in hometown
From 1976: The Spokane Chronicle recounted the success story of Vietnamese refugee Nguyen Van Bay and his family.
This day in history: LaGuardia Airport bombing kills 11, puts nation on alert. SPD investigate ‘baffling’ murder, assault cases
From 1976: Security was tightened at Spokane International Airport in the wake of a bombing at LaGuardia Airport in New York that killed 11.
This day in history: Tribal leader who lobbied successfully to protect Indian reservations dies in Spokane. New Episcopal cathedral named
From 1976: “Thousands of mourners” were expected to attend the wake and funeral ceremonies for local tribal leader Joseph R. Garry in DeSmet, Idaho.
This day in history: Marijuana should be legalized, said North Idaho Medical Association in 1975. Spokane economy booming as 1925 came to close
From 1975: The North Idaho Medical Association went on record as advocating the legalization of marijuana.
This day in history: Septic tanks polluting aquifer in Spokane Valley, Army Corps warned. More were dying in car crashes
From 1975: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers strongly recommended the construction of a sewage system and treatment plant in the Spokane Valley.
This day in history: Remodeling scheduled at Fairchild. ‘Soft drink’ establishments push back against Hedger recall amid Prohibition
From 1975: Fairchild Air Force Base was getting a “face-lift” in preparation for a new mission.
This day in history: Rathdrum Prairie construction continues despite moratorium for contaminated drinking water
From 1975: Construction of new homes on the Rathdrum Prairie continued, despite a proposed moratorium because of the possible contamination of Spokane’s drinking water.
This day in history: The biggest story of the year would end up coming full circle today
From 1975: The Associated Press listed the top stories in Washington for 1975, and the No. 1 story was also a top story 50 years later: Flooding in Western Washington.
This day in history: Coors beer makes Spokane debut; Attempted recall Spokane public safety commissioner enters petition phase
From 1975: Spokane beer drinkers had something to celebrate: Coors beer was finally coming to the Spokane area.
This day in history: Major fog and a haven for ‘vice and immorality’ made headlines in Spokane
From 1975: Fog closed in on Spokane International Airport, causing flight delays during the busy Christmas Day schedule.