1106 W. Ninth Avenue

Statement of Significance

Built in 1910, and listed in 1994 on the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing property in the Ninth Avenue National Register Historic District, the Comstock-Shadle House is one of the best preserved historic properties in Spokane, Washington.  It is significant in the area of significance, “architecture,” as an excellent adaptation of the Tudor Revival style and as a representation of the work of Willis Ritchie, a master architect who practiced in Spokane during the late 1890s and early 1900s.  The property achieved further importance in the area of significance, “community planning & development,” for its association with the residential development and subsequent settlement of the Ninth Avenue National Register Historic District, especially pertaining to the north side of an entire city block between South Madison and Jefferson Streets.  Perhaps the strongest historic significance attributed to the Comstock-Shadle House, however, is in the area of “commerce” through its association with the Comstock and Shadle families who were recognized as some of the most charitable benefactors to ever live in Spokane.  The house was built for James & Elizabeth Comstock, civic philanthropists, pioneer merchants, and founders of the Spokane Dry Goods Company, the Dry Goods Realty Company, and the Crescent Department Store.  After James Comstock’s death in 1918, Eugene Shadle and his wife, Josie Comstock Shadle, moved into the Comstock home to be with Josie’s mother.  During their residence there, Eugene & Josie Shadle carried on the magnanimous philanthropic work begun by James & Elizabeth Comstock.  They continued to give hundreds of thousands of dollars to the beautification of Spokane parkland and waterways along the Spokane River, built Comstock Park/pool/playground and donated it to the City of Spokane, helped finance the multi-million dollar enlargement of St. Luke’s Hospital, and “were always ready to contribute liberally to anything pertaining to the welfare of the city which they both loved so well.”   Perhaps the Shadles greatest gift to the Spokane community was the Shadle Trust Fund which they organized while they lived in the house before Eugene Shadle’s death in 1944.  The trust fund was administered by the Comstock Foundation and gifted over $31.5 million dollars throughout the Spokane community for more than 50 years until 2000.

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