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The original Crescent, located on
West Riverside Avenue, opened for business on August 5, 1889, the day
after the Great Fire that destroyed most of downtown Spokane.
As the town’s only remaining dry goods store, the establishment
sold out its entire stock on its first day of business.
Owners Robert B. Paterson and James M. Comstock supported the
post-fire effort and did not raise prices in order to take advantage of
the disaster, beginning the tradition “be fair to everyone.”
The Crescent went on to become a Spokane institution—a symbol
of the community’s history and heritage, and boasted many “firsts”
in the realm of Spokane business policies and philosophy.
Construction of the first unit of the Crescent building, designed
by noted Spokane architect Loren L. Rand, commenced in 1917 and
continued to 1919. Originally
five stories in height, the building was later expanded to seven.
In 1949 the Crescent purchased the Alexander Building, adjacent
to the south, so that it extended half a city block.
The Crescent’s 99 year reign in Spokane ended in 1988, when it
merged with a Seattle-based company to become Frederick and Nelson, which
filed for Chapter 11 in 1991. The
downtown Spokane store closed the following year.
Today the building is The Crescent Court, and continues to serve
the downtown with retail and office space.
It remains a tangible and significant reminder of a local
business that served the community for nearly a century.
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Crescent SR Nomination (PDF)
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