Timeline of Spokane, Washington

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Spokane, Washington, USA.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

Prior to 20th century

• 1874 - Spokane Falls settlement established in Washington Territory by James N. Glover.[1]
• 1879 - Spokane Times newspaper begins publication.[2]
• 1880 - Population: 350.[3]
• 1881 - Spokane Falls incorporated as a town.[1]
• 1882 - Spokane becomes seat of Spokane County.[1]
• 1883
  • Northern Pacific Railway begins operating.[1]
  • Central School opens.
• 1884 - YMCA established.
• 1887 - Jesuit Gonzaga College established.[1]
• 1889
  • August 4–6: The Great Fire.[1]
  • Union Pacific Railroad begins operating.[1]
  • Town becomes part of the new U.S. State of Washington.
• 1890
  • Town of Spokane Falls renamed "Spokane."[1]
  • Casino Opera House opens (approximate date).[4]
  • Population: 19,922.[3]
• 1891 - Spokane High School and Holy Names Academy built.[5]
• 1892 - Great Northern Railway built.[3]
• 1893 - September 19: Franz Ferdinand of Austria visits town incognito.[6]
• 1894 - The Spokesman-Review newspaper in publication.
• 1895
  • Spokane County Courthouse built.[7]
  • U.S. military Fort George Wright established near town.[1]
• 1896 - Deaconess Hospital established.[1]
• 1897 - Chamber of Commerce[8] and Spokane Stock Exchange established.

20th century

• 1900 - Population: 36,848.[3]
• 1905
  • Spokane Public Library building opens.[9]
  • Woman's Club formed.[5]
• 1908 - Portland-Spokane railway begins operating.
• 1909 - Federal building constructed.[2]
• 1910
  • Commission form of government adopted.[1]
  • Population: 104,402.[1]
• 1914
  • Whitworth College active.
  • Davenport Hotel in business.[4]
  • Clemmer Theater built.
• 1915 - Spokane Mountaineers club formed.
• 1916 - Eastern Washington State Historical Society established.[10]
• 1919 - National Association for the Advancement of Colored People chapter founded.[11]
• 1921 - Civic building opens.[2]
• 1925 - October: National Indian Congress held.[12]
• 1929
  • Spokane Daily Times begins publication.[13]
  • Cambern Dutch Shop Windmill built.[5]
• 1933 - Grand Coulee Dam construction begins in vicinity of Spokane.[14]
• 1935 - Benewah Milk Bottle building constructed.
• 1938 - Spokane Art Center opens.[2]
• 1942 - U.S. military Fairchild Air Force Base begins operating near Spokane.
• 1946
  • Spokane municipal airport active.[14]
  • Yoke's Fresh Market in business.
• 1954
  • Spokane Coliseum opens.
  • Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist built.
• 1955 - NorthTown Mall in business.
• 1960
  • Mayor-council-manager form of government adopted.[14]
  • Population: 181,608.[14]
• 1963
  • Spokane Community College established.
  • Protest during the Civil Rights Movement[15]
• 1967 - Spokane Falls Community College opens.
• 1974
  • Spokane Convention Center built.
  • Pavilion Opera House and River Park Square shopping center open.
  • Expo '74 world's fair held in Spokane.[14]
• 1977 - Lilac Bloomsday Run begins.[14]
• 1978 - Spokane Fire Station Museum established.[10]
• 1981
  • Spokane River Centennial Trail constructed.[14]
  • Spokane Historic Landmarks Commission created.
• 1995
  • Community Health Association of Spokane active.[16]
  • Spokane Arena opens.
• 1996 - City website online (approximate date).[17][18]
• 1997
  • Spokane Preservation Advocates organized.
  • Spokane Valley Mall in business near city.

21st century

• 2003
  • September 23: Gun incident at high school.[19]
  • James E. West becomes mayor.[20]
• 2005 - Cathy McMorris Rodgers becomes U.S. representative for Washington's 5th congressional district.[21]
• 2010 - Population: 208,916.[22]
• 2011 - January: Bombing attempt.[23]
• 2012 - David Condon becomes mayor.

See also

• History of Spokane, Washington
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Spokane

other cities in Washington

• Timeline of Seattle

References

1. Britannica 1910.
2. Federal Writers' Project 1941.
3. Kensel 1969.
4. Alan Michelson (ed.). "Pacific Coast Architecture Database". Seattle: University of Washington. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
5. Historic Preservation Office. "Historic Properties of Spokane". City-County of Spokane. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
6. C. S. Kingston (1925). "Franz Ferdinand at Spokane—1893". Washington Historical Quarterly. 16 (1): 3–7. JSTOR 40475476.
7. "Historical Dates and Maps". Spokane County. Archived from the original on January 18, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
8. "Finding Aids". Northwest Digital Archives. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
9. American Library Annual, 1917-1918. New York: R.R. Bowker Co. 1918. pp. 7 v.
10. American Association for State and Local History (2002). "Washington: Spokane". Directory of Historical Organizations in the United States and Canada. ISBN 0759100020.
11. Mack 2014.
12. "Barnes Northwest Room: Digital Collections". Spokane Public Library. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
13. "US Newspaper Directory". Chronicling America. Washington DC: Library of Congress. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
14. "History: Time Line". City of Spokane. Archived from the original on December 2, 2014. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
15. Mack 2003.
16. Mike Tigas and Sisi Wei (ed.). "Spokane, Washington". Nonprofit Explorer. New York: ProPublica. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
17. "City of Spokane". Archived from the original on December 1998 – via Internet Archive, Wayback Machine.
18. Spokane Public Library. "City Government Home Page". Archived from the original on January 1997.
19. "Student Shot in Standoff at a Spokane High School". New York Times. September 23, 2003.
20. "James West, 55, Spokane Mayor Ousted in a Sex Scandal, Dies". New York Times. July 25, 2006.
21. "Washington". Official Congressional Directory: 109th Congress. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. 2005.
22. "Spokane (city), Washington". State & County QuickFacts. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
23. "In Spokane, a Mystery With No Good Solution". New York Times. February 13, 2011.

Bibliography

See also: History of Spokane, Washington § Bibliography

• Settlers' guide to homes in the northwest, being a hand-book of Spokane Falls, W.T. Spokane Falls: Dallam, Ansell & Edwards. 1885.
• Jonathan Edwards (1900), Illustrated History of Spokane County, W.H. Lever, OCLC 4873043, OL 6912581M
• "Spokane", Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.), New York, 1910, OCLC 14782424 – via Internet Archive
• Nelson Wayne Durham (1912), History of the city of Spokane and Spokane County, Washington, Chicago: S.J. Clarke Pub. Co., OCLC 3098070, OL 13528646M
• Spokane City Directory. Polk. 1913. hdl:2027/uc1.l0065060402.
• Federal Writers' Project (1941), "Spokane", Washington: a Guide to the Evergreen State, American Guide Series, Portland, Or.: Binfords & Mort, hdl:2027/uc1.b3624995 – via HathiTrust
• W. Hudson Kensel (1969). "Inland Empire Mining and the Growth of Spokane, 1883-1905". Pacific Northwest Quarterly. 60 (2): 84–97. JSTOR 40488655.
• Dwayne A. Mack (2003). "Crusade for Equality: Spokane's Civil Rights Movement during the Early 1960s". Pacific Northwest Quarterly. 95.
• Dwayne A. Mack (2014). Black Spokane: The Civil Rights Struggle in the Inland Northwest. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-4712-3.

External links

• Items related to Spokane, various dates (via Digital Public Library of America).