Spokane River Bridges

 

Likely when you think of "Spokane River bridges" your mind jumps to the iconic Monroe Street Bridge, first built in 1911.

But would you have guessed there are nearly 40 bridges spanning a river only 111 miles long? Originating in Lake Coeur d'Alene, the river meanders through the Spokane Valley to empty into the Columbia River. Those are current bridges and don't count the many that were built and then washed away. 

It had been long realized and known that a bridge was needed to cross the Spokane River in the downtown area. Between 1890 and 1896 several bridges were constructed but all fell prey to The River. Finally in 1902, realizing that timber for such a bridge would not do, the bridge pretty much as we see it today was completed and dedicated on 21 Nov 1911 at a cost of $477,682.67.  (SUCH precise accounting!) 

The biggest problem facing construction of the Monroe Street Bridge was the south side where after the great fire of 1889 tons of the ash and debris were pushed over and deposited there.... making for a very unstable bridge footing. The ash and debris was dumped atop a small stream which continued to flow and be a continual problem. 

On May 4, 1892, Miss Mary Winitch gained fame by becoming the first pedestrian of record to cross the bridge. (I did several minutes of research on Miss Mary but found nothing.)

QUESTION: How many times would you guess you have walked over..... or driven over..... the Monroe Street Bridge?

SOURCE:  The Pacific Northwesterner, Vol. 28k Winter 1984, article by Byron Barber.

History of Spokane's Flour Mill

  1928

"Spokane Flour Mills once shipped its wares all over the world" began an article in the Spokesman Review, 22 Jul 1972 by Jan Chrisman. "It closed shop last week after 80 years of operation." The 3-column article detailed the long and convoluted history of the mill. A shorter summary was found on the Spokane Historical website, an article by Jesse Roberts: 

The city of Spokane began as a small cluster of buildings on the south side of the falls, focused around saw mills and and later flour mills. This is why the city was originally named Spokane Falls. After the 1889 fire had burned much of the city it was decided to build a new mill on the north side of the falls.

The mill was finished in 1895 but it wasn’t put into operation until 1900. The reason for the delay was lawsuit over ownership of the mill. The previous owner, Simon Oppenheimer, went bankrupt and went off the grid. The ownership of this mill passed to James Glover and a series of complex lawsuits between him, the city of Spokane and a Dutch financial firm named Kantoor soon ensued. Eventually Kantoor won the suits and the mill was able to enter operation. This was one of the most spectacular and complex lawsuits in Spokane history.

The mill worked regularly until 1972 when it, after many years of service, closed its doors. This was not the end of the Flour Mill though. Soon, in 1973 the mill was converted into a shopping center in preparation for EXPO ‘74. This was one of the first examples in Spokane of a historic building being preserved and reused for a new function. Its location was directly next to the north entrance to the EXPO, which got it much publicity during the EXPO. It contains many interesting little shops including Tobacco World and Olde Joe Clark’s Photography Studio which have been there since it was converted. At first, much of the original equipment was left in place, but was later removed.

DONNA:  Also Clinkerdagger's  restaurant is there now!

The Flour Mill serves as a reminder of the industrial origins of Spokane and of the importance of water power throughout the history of Spokane. Its conversion to a shopping center has maintained the location’s viability while allowing it to continue to serve as a reminder of the city’s history.

Spokane in 1940.

Having this wonderful postcard of Spokane in the 1940s, I got to thinking. What was Spokane like in the 1940s?? These were the war years and Spokane benefited greatly from helping in the war effort:

During World War II, Spokane was home to the Velox Naval Supply Depot, the massive Galena Army Air Corps supply and repair depot (later Fairchild AFB), Geiger Field, Fort George Wright, and the Baxter Army Hospital. In addition, two federally owned aluminum plants at suburban Mead and Trentwood proved crucial to the war effort. Some 15,000 Spokane residents served in the armed forces and many were employed in war-related industries.
(www.historylink.org)

Population of Spokane in 1930 was - 128, 795
Population of Spokane in 1940 was - 141,370
Population of Spokane in 1950 was - 161,721

So you see that our Lilac City had a manageable growth rate during these war years. Did your ancestors live in the area then??

Spokane, Missouri........... Did You Know?

The city of Spokane, Washington takes its name, which means "children of the stars or the Star People", from the Spokane Tribe of Native Americans. Isn't this what we've always been told? And that's what Wikipedia says too. 

Imagine my surprise a few years back when I discovered a Spokane, Missouri. This town is large enough to have a high school! How did that happen? How did a town in Missouri get the name Spokane?

At a recent visit to my sister-in-law's in Kansas City, Missouri, I was browsing her "Missouri Place Names" book. Know what it says regarding the origin of the town of Spokane, Missouri???

The book says the town is named for Spokane, Washington! Now don't that beat all, as they say. 

Spokane County had 130,050 fruit trees in 1899.

 

Thanks to Charles Hansen for finding and sharing a bit in The Spokesman-Chronicle for January 2, 1899 (page 6): WASHINGTON'S FRUIT TREES. Spokane is the fourth county in importance in the state according to the "orchard census" just announced by Jesse E. Baker, the state horticulturist. Spokane County boasts 130,050 fruit trees.  Walla Walla leads with 253,330 trees,  but of the 34 counties in the state, only three can beat Spokane. Mr. Baker also reported that there were 2,414,626 fruit trees in the state.  

Charles explained to me that it was likely that many of the trees were planted under the conditions of a land grant..... land was granted upon condition of planting so many trees and (Charles said) it did not matter what kind of trees but only ones which would grow in that environment. 

According to Wikipedia, some German families settled in the Green Bluff area in 1899; a school district had been established in 1891, the first Methodist church and the first Grange in 1909. Today we think of Green Bluff in terms of orchards...... cherry, peach, pear, apple, and strawberries. I wonder if some of those fruit trees were planted under a land grant opportunity??  

Anybody have a story about ancestors settling at Green Bluff and fruit trees? Would love to hear it!

Spokane's Vintage Postcards

Don't we all love old postcards? Especially of places dear or interesting to us? Our morning newspaper carried a bit extolling the appeal of old postcards of Spokane (Paul Turner, 3 Jan 2012, www.spokesman.com). We here in Spokane are so very lucky for there has been a book compiled of a great many of these wonderful old scenes. Vintage Postcards from Old Spokane, 2005, by Duane Broyles and Tony and Suzanne Bamonte, is a book we each can have (Google it) for our own enjoyment. And this makes me wonder.........have similar books been compiled about other places where I've lived or where my ancestors lived?? Hummmmm..........

Spokane Falls 1883

Spokane falls, Spokane County, is situated on the line of the N.P.R.R. 161 miles from Wallula Junction, and contains a population of about one thousand. The location of this little city, on the left back of the Spokane river, at the falls of the same, from which it derives its names, is magnificently beautiful. No language that I can employ would fittingly express the grandeur of its situation. The water power furnished by the river is only equalled, and not excelled, by two other cities in the United States, ..... Fall River, Mass., and Minneapolis, Minnesota, which will in the near future attract capital for investment in manufactories. Nature and nature's God ordained that a manufacturing metropolis would be built on the present site of this city. Spokane Falls possesses many other advantages, being in the center of a large agricultural and stock raising country, with an immense amount of timber of the best quality. Many attractions are offered to the pleasure seeker who delights in beautiful scenery, and the disciples of Isaak Walton will find here the best trout fishing on the habitable globe. Business of all kinds is represented here, and the merchant and tradesman never have cause to complain, for they are never overtaken by dull times. The city boasts of good hotels, churches and schools, and everything else that goes to make up a happy and prosperous people. The Spokane Falls Chronicle, a weekly newspaper published by the Northwest Publishing Company and edited by A.K. Woodbury, is doing herculean work in the interest of the section where it receives its principal patronage.

I found this in an 1883 city directory in the Joel E. Ferris Research Library, Eastern Washington Historical Society Archives & Library, next to the MAC Museum while I was researching something else. Since it was so interesting to me, I thought it might would be to you too.  One note; in 1883 it was already SpokanE Falls??