Historic Register Tour - Hutton Building

HISTORIC NAME	Hutton Building
COMMON NAME	Hutton Building
DATE BUILT	c. 1907, 1910
ARCHITECT/BUILDER	J.K. Dow, Clarence Hubbell
PROPERTY STYLE	Beaux Arts/Neoclassical, Commercial Vernacular
ON THE SPOKANE REGISTER	No
NATIONAL REGISTER	No
IN A DISTRICT	Yes - added 1/27/83
DISTRICT	No
NEIGHBORHOOD	Riverside

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

Levi and May Awkright Hutton built this building from wealth made in the Coeur d'Alene mining district. May Awkright came to the Coeur d'Alene district in 1883, and opened a boarding house, where she met her future husband Levi Hutton, a railroad engineer. The Huttons were married in 1887 and continued to live and work in the mining area, where they became involved in the labor struggles. They invested in the Hercules Mine in 1887, and in 1901, the mine struck ore, making the Huttons one of the wealthiest families in the Inland Empire. In 1907, they built the Hutton Building, and upon its completion, moved to Spokane into its penthouse, where they spent some of their most active years. The Huttons became the leading figures in the movement for political and labor reform. May Hutton was active in the women's suffrage movement in Washington and Idaho, was the first female candidate to the Idaho legislature, and the first woman to the Democratic National Convention, and she convinced William Borah to run for the United States Senate. Levi Hutton, less public than his wife, is best remembered for the Hutton Settlement (National Register, 1976), a progressive orphanage still considered a model institution.

In 1907, the Huttons financed the Hutton Building, designed by John K. Dow. Dow had gained prominence as the architect for the Empire State Building and Spokane Club in 1900, and also designed the August Paulsen Building, the Mohawk Building, and the Masonic Temple (National Register, 1976). The original Hutton Building was four stories, but in 1910, three more stories were added under the supervision of Dow's partner, Clarence Hubbell. The Huttons occupied this building during their most active years in various reform movements. The Hutton Building also housed a number of other occupants, including Senator William Borah's office and the architectural firm of Whitehouse and Price.