National Historic Districts in Spokane, WA and Spokane County

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 developed 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

Corbin Park National Historic District

The Corbin Park 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.

Desmet Avenue Warehouse Historic District

The Desmet Avenue Warehouse Historic District is located slightly north of the Spokane River and the commercial downtown of Spokane. 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 Spokane's north side.

Felts Field Historic District

Felts Field Historic District is significantly associated with the growth of aviation in the Inland Northwest, serving as the region's first and, for two decades, principal commercial and military airport. The contributing structures, including historic civilian and military hangars, passenger terminal, National Guard Headquarters, and 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.

Fort George Wright Historic District

Fort George Wright is a significant reminder of Spokane's long military history, its existence springing from the economic needs of the community. Designed as a replacement for Fort Spokane about 50 miles 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, owing its survival to a hiatus of post-war development. Its tree-lined lanes and red brick buildings belie its military purpose; its idyllic quality was achieved at the turn of the century when America was not yet a world power and peace seemed to be a permanent condition.

Four Corners Historic District

The district is known to be the birthplace of the present City of Spokane. The development of the intersection and layout of the streets and assigning their names was through the effort and leadership of James Glover, considered the "Father of Spokane".

An inscription on a plaque on the Coeur d'Alene Hotel on the South-East corner of the intersection of Trent and Howard gives 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.

Hillyard National Business District

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 were 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 pulse-beat of the community and provided the town’s necessary staples, sundries, and services such as food, clothing, shelter, business enterprise, and 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.

Marycliff-Cliff Park Historic District

The Marycliff/Cliff Park District of Spokane has been the residential 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 homes having been designed by Spokane's leading architects.

Mission Avenue Historic District

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 residential 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.

Ninth Avenue Historic District

Upon inspection, the Ninth Avenue Historic District quickly establishes itself as an area possessing unusual qualities which distinguish it from its contemporaries and later counterparts. Certainly its association with A.M. Cannon are significant. In addition, within this district's boundaries, many impressive residences for the community's social and financial elite. Their designs, situated along tree-canopied amenities, reflect the most popular architectural styles of the day, ranging from the stately Queen Anne to the modest bungalow. And yet, in addition to the majestic homes of Spokane's more prominent citizens, the Ninth Avenue Historic District includes a burgeoning 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.

Peaceful Valley Historic District

The Peaceful Valley 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 the city.

Riverside Avenue Historic District

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 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.

Rockwood Historic District

Spokane's rich architectural legacy includes several residential neighborhoods representing different ears and historic associations. Aptly named, the Rockwood district is unparalleled for its geological features and open spaces, carefully preserved in its design by the Olmsted Brothers architectural firm of Brookline, Massachusetts. Steep slopes and basalt rock outcroppings are blended with curvilinear streets and a series of green spaces as a setting for a variety of architectural styles reflective of Spokane's residential designers and builders through the first half of the twentieth century. The men most instrumental in its development, Jay P. Graves and Aubrey White, played major roles in shaping the character and form of the city; Graves through his investments in railroad and real estate development, and White for fostering the city's park system and early city design. The residential choice of many of the area's most prominent citizens from its initial development to the present day, the neighborhood has been home to civic and business leaders of regional and national importance. Architecturally significant, the Rockwood district bridges eras and contains examples of residential designs from the early twentieth century at the conclusion of Spokane's "Age of Elegance" through the thirties and forties when a new generation of designers were leaving their imprint on Spokane's built environment.

West Downtown Transportation Historic District

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 railroads, 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 high concentration of building types that represent: a) railroad-dependent businesses primarily warehouses, but also 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.

Eastern Washington University Historic District

for its long association with the town of Cheney, Washington, whose prosperity singularly depended on the existence of the school. The district is also significant for its contributions to the development of the Normal School idea and its crucial role in providing adequate training for teachers.

Of further significance, this Historic District constitutes an enduring memorial to important local figures who were central to the survival and prosperity of the school. Fittingly, some of these persons were themselves products of the normal school system, shining examples of the effectiveness of such a training program. These significant individuals, whose names grace four of the Historic District buildings, are Noah David Showalter, Mary A. Monroe, William J. Sutton, and Richard T. Hargreaves.

Finally, the structures of the Eastern Washington University Historic District possess architectural significance, not only as outstanding examples of the eclectic institutional style of the period, but also as important reflections upon the careers of two of the most prolific designers of Public Works in the state, Julius Zittel and George M. Rasque.

Hutton Settlement

Ugliness has been synonymous with orphanages in America; this stereotype has rarely been challenged as well as in 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.

Nine Mile Hydroelectric Power Plant District

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.