History · Spokane
Spokane’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold only 4 old photos of Spokane. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
1871established
4old images & papers
131historic places
0recent photos
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗The first humans to live in the Spokane area were hunter-gatherers that lived off plentiful fish and game; early human remains have been dated to 8,000 to 13,000 years ago. The Spokane tribe, after which the city is named (the name meaning "children of the sun" or "sun people" in Salishan),[a] are believed to be either their direct descendants, or descendants of people from the Great Plains. When asked by early white explorers, the Spokanes said their ancestors came from "up North." Early in the 19th century, the Northwest Fur Company sent two white fur trappers west of the Rocky Mountains to search for fur. These were the first white men met by the Spokanes, who believed they were sacred, and set the trappers up in the Colville River valley for the winter.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items below1871Established
1880s2 items · Daniel M. Drumheller Jr. as a child, …Commons
1890s2 items · Agricultural display, Spokane Falls, …Commons
1900–1999Nothing yet. Family albums go here.
Be one of the first
Start Spokane’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Spokane’s history is told.
0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewDaniel M. Drumheller Jr. as a chi…, c. 1885: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10By decade
Spokane, decade by decade
1880s2 items
1890s2 items
1900s–
1990s
1990s
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
📷 Add from your albumNational Register of Historic Places
131 historic places in Spokane
Spokane has 131 listings on the National Register, and they protect 2,297 historic buildings, because Nettleton's Addition Historic District alone counts 905.
#2
Among Washington’s most-listed townsby listings · most towns there have none
131places listed106 buildings · 17 districts · 8 other
0National Historic LandmarksNone here yet
2,297historic buildings protectedcounting each building in a district
1973first listedCowley Park · newest: Parkade, 2025
Where they are
Tap a dot for a photo and link. Districts show at their center.
BuildingsDistrictsSitesStructuresObjects
When they were listed
The Register began in 1966. Spokane’s busiest decade was the 1990s.
60s
1870s
2380s
2990s
2900s
2510s
720s
Listed 2000Salvation Army Building
Listed 2002John and Mary Ralston House
Listed 2003Luther P. and Jane Marie Turner House
Listed 2007Gus and Florence Ehrenberg House
Listed 2007William and Margaret Solby HouseListed 1973Cowley ParkListed 1973Glover HouseListed 1974Spokane County CourthouseListed 1974Campbell HouseListed 1975Review BuildingListed 1975Davenport HotelListed 1975Clark MansionListed 1976Monroe Street BridgeListed 1976Fort George Wright Historic District-Fort George Wright Cemetery (Additional Documentation)Listed 1976Finch HouseListed 1976Browne's Addition Historic DistrictListed 1976Riverside Avenue Historic DistrictListed 1977Empire State BuildingListed 1977Natatorium CarouselListed 1978Spokane Flour MillListed 1978First Congregational Church of SpokaneListed 1979Frequency Changing StationListed 1979Marycliff-Cliff Park Historic DistrictListed 1982Sunset Boulevard BridgeListed 1982Washington Street BridgeListed 1982Spokane Public LibraryListed 1982Spokane Public LibraryListed 1982Spokane Public LibraryListed 1982Spokane Public LibraryListed 1983Hutton BuildingListed 1983Holley-Mason BuildingListed 1983US Post Office, Courthouse, and Custom HouseListed 1984Peaceful Valley Historic DistrictListed 1985Spokane City Hall BuildingListed 1985Edwin A. Smith HouseListed 1986Holy Names Academy BuildingListed 1986Benewah Milk BottleListed 1986Mission Avenue Historic DistrictListed 1987AmmanListed 1987BreslinListed 1987KnickerbockerListed 1987San MarcoListed 1988Coolidge-Rising HouseListed 1988Clemmer TheaterListed 1989Cambern Dutch Shop WindmillListed 1989J. W. Binkley HouseListed 1990Lewis & Clark High SchoolListed 1991Finch, John A., Memorial Nurses HomeListed 1991Sears, Roebuck Department StoreListed 1991Felts Field Historic DistrictListed 1992Grace Baptist ChurchListed 1992Corbin Park Historic DistrictListed 1992Eldridge BuildingListed 1993Whitten BlockListed 1993Commercial BlockListed 1994Kemp & Hebert BuildingListed 1994Ninth Avenue Historic DistrictListed 1994Hotel UptonListed 1994Spokane Club Building-Legion BuildingListed 1994Schade BreweryListed 1994Spokane Fire Station No. 3Listed 1996Fuller, W. P., and Company WarehouseListed 1996Gustav Meese BuildingListed 1996Central Steam Heat PlantListed 1997Rockwood Historic DistrictListed 1997Desmet Avenue Warehouse Historic DistrictListed 1998Seehorn-Lang BuildingListed 1998Montvale BlockListed 1998Miller BlockListed 1998Otis HotelListed 1998Globe Hotel, TheListed 1999Koerner HouseListed 1999Corbet-Aspray HouseListed 1999Knight HouseListed 1999West Downtown Historic Transportation CorridorListed 2000Mount Saint MichaelListed 2000Bump Block-Bellevue House-Hawthorne HotelListed 2000Roosevelt ApartmentsListed 2001Fox TheaterListed 2001Lewis and Clark High School (Boundary Decrease)Listed 2002Levi and May Arkwright Hutton HouseListed 2002Lawrence and Lydia Weaver HouseListed 2002Hillyard Historic Business DistrictListed 2003Alonzo and Louise Barnett HouseListed 2003East Downtown Historic DistrictListed 2003James and Corinne Williams HouseListed 2004Daniel C. and Anna Corbin HouseListed 2004Five Mile Prairie SchoolListed 2004Kenneth and Edna Brooks HouseListed 2005Peyton Building and Peyton AnnexListed 2005Robinwood AparmentsListed 2005Dr. Robert and Jessie Bell HouseListed 2005Hillyard High SchoolListed 2005Spokane Sash and Door Company FlatsListed 2006Ralston and Sarah Wilbur HouseListed 2006Nettleton's Addition Historic DistrictListed 2006Richardson-Jackson HouseListed 2006Frank and Maude Tuell HouseListed 2007Dr. Charles and Elsie Thomas HouseListed 2010Dodd HouseListed 2010Spokane & Inland Empire Railroad Car FacilityListed 2010Victor & Jean Piollet HouseListed 2010Muzzy-Shine HouseListed 2010Rogers, John R., High SchoolListed 2012City Ramp GarageListed 2013Garland TheaterListed 2013Ridpath HotelListed 2013Louise Chandler Anderson HouseListed 2013Harvey and Mary Bauer HouseListed 2014Finch, John A., SchoolListed 2014Germond BlockListed 2014Hill-Hilscher HouseListed 2014William O. and Stella M. Seligman HouseListed 2014Canfield, George and Nellie. HouseListed 2015Kiesow-Gentsch HouseListed 2015Levesque-Majer HouseListed 2015George and Blanche Christiansen HouseListed 2015Manito Park and BoulevardListed 2017Franklin Elementary SchoolListed 2018McKinley SchoolListed 2018Coeur d'Alene ParkListed 2019McMillen-Dyar HouseListed 2019Harry and Catherine Bleeker HouseListed 2019William and Ella Warner HouseListed 2020Columbia BuildingListed 2021Dodson BuildingListed 2024American Legion Cenotaph – Riverside Park CemeteryListed 2024Dr. Hans & Rosaleen Moldenhauer HouseListed 2024Courthouse and Federal Office BuildingListed 2025Hotel CollinsListed 2025ParkadeNational Park Service, National Register of Historic Places (05/22/2026) · styles from the National Archives catalog · photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Daniel M. Drumheller Jr. as a child, dressed in a sailor costume, Spokane, Washington, ca. 1885 (c. 1885) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (4) and the National Register (2). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.