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Browne's Addition Historic District |
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Browne's Addition Historic District encompasses a well-preserved
residential section south of the Spokane River gorge and
immediately west of the city center. It was platted in the
1880's and intensively develop ed
for well-to-do clients around the turn of the century.
Within its boundaries is a concentrated architectural aggregate
including nearly every residential style fashionable in the
Pacific Northwest between 1880 and 1930. Moreover, the
district is replete with coniferous and deciduous trees, mostly
exotic stock, planted along the streets and in the neighborhood
park in response to recommendations made to the Board of Park
Commissioners by Olmsted Brothers Landscape Architects of
Brookline, Massachusetts in 1907.
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Corbin Park Historic District |
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Named for the  serene
park that provides the neighborhood's focal point, the Corbin
Park National Historic District is significant for its
association with D.C. Corbin and other men important in the
early development of Spokane. It is significant also as an
area of well-preserved typical early twentieth century homes.
The state of preservation of these homes is evidence of the
effectiveness of Corbin's community planning efforts and also of
subsequent utilization of good landscape architecture.
Throughout three-fourths of a century, the area has been home to
people intimately involved in the professions and commerce in
Spokane.
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Desmet Avenue Warehouse Historic District |
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The Desmet Avenue Warehouse Historic District is located
slightly north of the Spokane River and the commercial downtown
of Spoka ne.
The district is composed of six commercial buildings with a long
tenure of warehousing and manufacturing associations.
Choice of this locale for such buildings was based on the
availability of land and proximity of nearby railroad transport.
Construction of a majority of these structures occurred between
1904 and 1915, and roughly coincided with the most productive
period of building activity in Spokane. While singly
configured as one or multi-storied buildings, this ensemble of
warehouses represents one of the larger and most cohesive
groupings of such structures remaining on the north side of the
Spokane River.
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East Downtown Historic District |
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The East Downtown Historic District is a collection of
historically significant commercial, mixed-use and warehouse
buildings anchored by the Northern Pacific Railway Depot. The
district is on the eastern edge of Spokane’s central business
district. Since the 1890’s, this area has been an important part
of the down town’s
industrial and commercial heritage by providing housing and
business establishments that met the needs of those who came to
Spokane to work and live either temporarily or permanently. Two
predominant property types have historically characterized the
district—warehouses and single room occupancy hotels. This
historic district comprises approximately twenty-seven square
blocks with a total of 107 resources of which 83 (78%) are
historically contributing. The period of significance for the
district begins in 1890 with the construction of the Northern
Pacific Railway Depot and Fire Station #1 following the great
fire of 1889. Over half of the buildings within the district
date from the period between 1900 and 1910, which represented
the city’s most pronounced period of economic and population
growth.
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Felts Field Historic District |
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Felts Field Historic District is significantly associated with
the growth of aviation in the Inland Northwest, serving as the
region's first and, fo r
two decades, principal commercial and military airport.
The contributing structures, including historic civilian and
military hangars, passenger terminal, National Guard
Headquarters, and a commemorative clock tower, closely reflect
the development of aviation in Spokane from the mid-1920s to
1941. Although the airlines and National Guard unit
relocated by the late 1940s, the buildings remain well-preserved
and still reflect the Moderne idiom and functional
characteristics of the historic period.
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Fort George Wright Historic District |
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Fort George Wrigh t
is a significant reminder of Spokane's long military history.
Designed as a replacement for Fort Spokane located about 50
miles to the northwest, the military reservation was in use from
1897 to 1958, creating new social, economic and community growth
patterns for the city. Planned as a regimental post, the
failure to fulfill this purpose had a well-defined effect on the
northwest military effort in World War II. It is
architecturally one of the best-preserved forts in the Inland
Empire, due to a hiatus of post-war development. Its
tree-lined lanes and red brick buildings belie its military
past.
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Four Corners Historic District |
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The Four Corners District is the birthplace of the pre sent
City of Spokane. James Glover, the founder of Spokane,
developed the intersection and named and laid out the streets.
An inscription on a plaque on the Coeur d'Alene Hotel on the
southeast corner of the intersection of W. Spokane Falls
Boulevard and Howard Street explains the significance of the
district:
"The village of 'Spokane Falls' began at this intersection in
1871 when James Glover erected his store on the S.W. corner.
This store harbored the first post office, bank, city hall,
court room and theater. California House stood on the N.E.
corner. The Glover and Gilliam Livery Stable on the N.W.
corner, Glover's residence on the S.E. corner. All of the
original buildings were destroyed in the great fire of 1889."
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Hillyard Historic Business District |
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The Hillyard Historic Business District has been the social and
commercial hub of Hillyard, Washington for over 100 years.
Hillyard developed as a “railroad town” for the hundreds of
workers and their families who w ere
employed at the Great Northern Railroad’s western regional
terminal facility--the internationally acclaimed railyard that
at one time manufactured the heaviest and most powerful steam
locomotives in the world. The huge rail yard was constructed in
1892, the same year Hillyard was planned and platted, and was
located adjacent to the Hillyard Historic Business District.
Stimulated by the enormous success of the rail center, the town
of Hillyard thrived. The Hillyard Historic Business District was
the market place and heart of the community and provided the
town’s necessary staples, sundries, and services such as food,
clothing, shelter, business enterprise, an d
places for socializing.
Through the first half of the 20th century, Hillyard continued
to grow and adapt in response to changing patterns in
government, commerce, technology, and the Great Northern
Railroad. The Hillyard Historic Business District illustrates
these changes in tangible ways. As a whole, the district
represents the physical evolution of the heart of a small
working class community developed in response to the Great
Northern Railroad’s distribution and manufacturing center.
To learn more, check out the
Historic Hillyard website.
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Hutton Settlement |
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Ugliness has been synonymous with orphanages in America; this
stereotype has rarely been challenged as well as i.jpg) n
the graceful design of the Hutton Settlement. The
indomitable spirit of two orphans, May Arkwright Hutton and her
husband, Levi Hutton, culminated in the Hutton Settlement, a
children's home with grace and beauty to feed children's
spirits, accompanied by a homelike atmosphere. The dream
was fulfilled by the Whitehouse and Price design of the complex
of buildings in Jacobethan Revival Styles, presenting the air of
a country estate. Innovative in concept, the application
was unique in techniques as well, exemplified by the development
of the first underground power cables and telephone lines in the
Spokane region.
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Marycliff-Cliff Park Historic District |
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The Marycliff-Cliff Park District of Spokane has been the re sidential
area for many prominent and influential people throughout
Spokane's history. From its earliest development in the
late 1880's to the present day, the area's residents have
included the leading citizens of Spokane: bankers, senators,
businessmen, mining and lumber entrepreneurs, as well as
prominent doctors, lawyers, and architects. As is often
the case where the wealthy live, the area rapidly became a
showplace of architectural styles - a number of the homes having
been designed by Spokane's leading architects.
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Mission Avenue Historic District |
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Developed in the late 19th century through the combined efforts
of Spokane speculators and Jesuit missionaries, the Mission
Avenue Historic District is the most intact remnant of the
city's first resid ential
suburbs, and includes a significant collection of late 19th and
early 20th century houses located on one of the city's oldest
landscaped boulevards. Seven blocks in length, the
district is unified by the canopy of trees that divides the
broad boulevard. Facing the street on either side are a
variety of Queen Anne, Four Square, Craftsman, and Bungalow
style houses that reflect the substantial architecture of the
period and the original suburban character of the area.
While other parts of the boulevard have suffered from new
construction, the district still reflects a period when the
district was an impressive drive that formed the centerpiece of
one of the city's finest residential neighborhoods.
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Nettleton's Addition Historic District |
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Nettleton’s Addition was platted in 1887 and became the largest
historic district on the Washington State Heritage Register in
2005.
This early Spokane streetcar suburb documents perfectly the
lifecycle of American cities:
initial rapid development (over 70% of the existing housing
stock was built prior to 191 0),
slow decline through the mid-Twentieth Century and now, urban
renewal and gentrification.
When
Nettleton’s Addition properties first went on the market in
1887, the Spokane Falls Review exclaimed breathlessly that “For
beauty of situation the Nettleton Addition is certainly
unsurpassed.” The
Review went on to describe views of the Spokane River, “…far
below, the clear water seethes and tumbles as it winds it
tortuous way,” the surroundings, “…from every portion of it a
beautiful view of the city and surrounding country can be
obtained,” concluding that Nettleton’s Addition “… in many ways
is superior to anything that has yet been offered.”
Today, Nettleton’s Addition residents are still attracted
by these natural features in addition to now-historic homes,
proximity to a newly revitalized downtown and a major “new
urbanism” development proposed on its southern boundary.
To learn more, check out the
Nettleton's Addition website.
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Nine Mile Hydroelectric Power Plant Historic District |
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Closely associated with the development of electric interurban
railroads in the Inland Empire, the Nine Mile Hydroelectric
Power Plant Historic District is an early and well preserved
example of a power plant specifically developed in conjunction
with a transportation network. The plant was built in
1906-1908 in a remote canyon on the Spokane Rivers, and includes
a powerhouse which is structurally integral with the dam.
When complete, the plant provided power for the Spokane and
Inland Empire Railway system, a network that provided freight
and passenger service along 250 miles of track radiating from
Spokane south to the Palouse wheat district and east to Coeur
d'Alene, Idaho. In addition, the plant supplied surplus
power to small communities along the route. In 1925, the
plant was purchased by Washington Water Power Company, which a
few years later constructed a small workers' community at the
site, composed of ten brick bungalows in the Craftsman and
English Cottage styles. The site is among the best
preserved hydroelectric plants in the state, and one of the most
significant extant properties associated with interurban
railroads in Washington.
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Ninth Avenue Historic District |
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Upon inspection, the Ninth Avenue Historic District quickly
establishes itself as an area possessing unusual qualities which
distinguish it from its contemp oraries
and later counterparts. Certainly its association with
A.M. Cannon are significant. In addition, within this
district's boundaries there are many impressive residences built
for the community's social and financial elite. Their
designs reflect the most popular architectural styles of the
day, ranging from the stately Queen Anne to the modest bungalow.
Yet, in addition to the majestic homes of Spokane's more
prominent citizens, the Ninth Avenue Historic District was also
home to an emerging middle class. Teachers, merchants, and
contractors purchased homes in the area, creating a neighborhood
diverse not only in its architectural composition, but in its
economic and social representation as well.
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Peaceful Valley Historic District |
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The Peaceful V.jpg) alley
Historic District is significant as a rare and intact example of
a working-class neighborhood dating from the turn of the
century. Many neighborhoods like Peaceful Valley once
existed throughout the state; however, very few have survived
without substantial alterations. While the historic value
of such neighborhoods is not frequently recognized, this type of
district presents a far more accurate picture of the lives of
"ordinary" Americans than the courthouses or homes of the
well-to-do that are more commonly preserved. Peaceful
Valley was a distinct enclave within the city of Spokane, both
physically and socially. This division has been maintained
and Peaceful Valley remains one of the most historically intact
neighborhoods in Spokane.
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Riverside Avenue Historic District |
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Riverside Avenue, between Monroe and Cedar, is undoubtedly
Spokane's most beautiful avenue, flanked  on
both sides with attractive buildings. Since 1901, the
small district has increasingly developed a striking individual
character in architecture, usage and atmosphere. With the
erection of Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral in 1902, the trend
towards stately dignity continued until 1931 with the completion
of the Civic Building. The character of the district has
been firmly established through the developmental role of each
structure in the district. Their individual contributions
were of such high quality that the texture of the whole is more
than the sum of the individual structures. The district
has been unified during the past 75 years by the pomp and
circumstance of long usage and general intent.
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Rockwood Historic District |
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The nationally renowned Olmsted Brothers landscape architects of
Brookline, Massachusetts designed the layout of this distinctive
neighborhood, with its steep slopes, basalt rock outcroppings,
and curvilinear streets connecting a series of pleasing green
spaces.
It  is
home to a variety of architectural styles that reflect the
evolution of the preferences of residential designers, builders,
and their customers during the first half of the twentieth
century.
The men most instrumental in the development of the
neighborhood, Jay P. Graves and Aubrey White, played major roles
in shaping the character and form of the city as a whole; Graves
through his investment in railroad and real estate development,
and White as the great champion of the Spokane park system.
Architectural styles bridge the gap between the waning
days of Spokane’s “Age of Elegance” and the new generation of
designers and builders who left their imprint on Spokane’s built
environment during the 1930s and 1940s.
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West Downtown Historic Transportation Corridor |
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Spokane grew to become a supply center for the region's farmers,
ranchers, and miners and as a point of departure for local
resources. The city's West Downtown Historic
Transportation Corridor is historically significant because of
its association with the expansion of railr.jpg) oads,
the advent of the automobile, and the rise of Spokane as a
regional distribution center. The district's extant
buildings that housed railroad-dependent businesses,
automobile-related concerns, and worker lodgings are associated
with the city's growth.
The Northern Pacific reached Spokane in 1881, and with its
completion as a transcontinental railroad in 1883, it linked the
northern reaches of the United States with the nation's central
distribution centers and allowed for increased industrial,
agricultural, and urban growth. After the turn of the
century, the automobile had an equally far-reaching impact on
Spokane and other western cities. These transportation
developments signaled a pattern of events that made a
significant contribution to the development of Spokane, the
Inland Empire, and the West.
The District has a h.jpg) igh
concentration of building types that represent: a)
railroad-dependent businesses consisting primarily of
warehouses, but also of manufactories for local market; b)
lodgings related to the traveling and transient population that
came to Spokane as a direct result of its growth, most notably,
Single Room Occupancy Hotels, or SROs, designed to make maximum
use of space; and c) the sales and service enterprises
associated with the rise of the automobile.
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Acknowledgement
Nominations to the Spokane Register are prepared by
homeowners or by consultants
who provide the research and photographs for the nominations
that are used on this website. We follow the National
Register policy regarding use of photographs:
“Use
of National Register Photographs-
By allowing a photograph to be submitted as official
documentation, photographers grant permission to the
National Park Service to use the photograph for print
and electronic
publication and other purposes, including but not limited to
duplication, display, distribution, study, publicity, and
audiovisual presentations.” |
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