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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1883 | 18 |
| 1884 | 10 |
28 stories matching expect
- Spokane Cuts Itself a New County — and Expects the Courthouse
The Territorial legislature carves a new county out of Spokane, placing Spokane Falls near its center. The town is 'exceedingly happy,' and already counting on the county seat, the land office, and the records that come with them.
- The Railroad Ran Its Spokane Depot on Too Few Men — and the Crew Broke
One agent and one telegraph operator were expected to staff the Spokane Falls railroad office around the clock. The agent finally asked for a layoff, and the wire operator quit, worn thin, for a farm with lighter work.
- Spokane Bet Its Future on a Railroad That Hadn't Arrived
A local correspondent complains that roundabout freight makes staple goods cost eight times Milwaukee prices—and predicts the coming Northern Pacific will turn Spokane Falls into a manufacturing power.
- A Circular Saw, a Jammed Board, and a Mill Hand's Narrow Escape
L. C. Grimmel lost a finger and nearly his whole hand at Johnson & Co.'s mill when a stuck board freed the saw without warning.
- Real Estate Jumps Again — and the Paper Warns the Speculators
Spokane Falls lots take 'another heavy advance' this week, and the editor worries that 'exorbitant prices do more injury than good' to a town that needs builders, not gamblers.
- Spokane Dressed for a Railroad King—and Waited Until Midnight
Spokane Falls spent a week building arches and hanging evergreens for Henry Villard's Northern Pacific excursion, but delayed trains turned the grand reception into a series of after-dark whistle-stops—and Ulysses S. Grant drew the crowd that the railroad had promised.
- A Handcar on the Trestle, a Train Around the Curve
Calhoun's crew was sent east of Spokane Falls to stand by a switch for the excursion trains. A belated passenger train rounded a curve onto their handcar; the men jumped, but a Chinese laborer was severely injured.
- A 100-Acre Bet on North Spokane
An Eastern investor buys a tract north of the river for $12,500 and plans to plat it into lots and build houses—classic Spokane booster speculation.
- The Coeur d'Alene Stampede Through Spokane Falls
Every train brings a delegation of prospectors as the Coeur d'Alene mining fever turns Spokane Falls into the gateway to the new diggings — and prices at the mines run to $70 a barrel of flour.
- A Stage for the Falls: The Push for Spokane's First Great Opera House
With touring companies expected on the Northern Pacific, local boosters propose a 1,000-seat frame hall—and a joint-stock company to build it for $6,000.
- Spokane Falls Demands Its Fair Share of the Territory
With Spokane County left 'out in the cold' without a representative while smaller Walla Walla holds three seats, the Review calls for splitting Washington Territory in two.
- No Monopoly on Gaslight: Spokane's Council Draws a Line
Council granted a gas company the right to lay pipes—but pointedly refused an exclusive franchise, warning that monopoly would 'cinch the consumers.'
- A Watch Snatched on Howard Street, and a Call for a Real Jail
A late-night robbery in the alley by Rima's store prompts the paper to warn that the gold rush is importing 'tough citizens' faster than Spokane Falls can lock them up.
- Spokane Has No Fire Department — Just a Few Ladders and a Lot of Luck
After a string of chimney fires nearly take out whole blocks, the paper demands a bucket brigade before a real blaze wipes the city off the map.
- Spokane Falls Finally Gets a Water Company — and a Fire-Fighting Lifeline
After a winter of promises and a franchise left to gather dust, three investors buy out the original water-works rights and vow to lay pipe before the weather turns.
- Spokane Falls Builds Through the Winter
Despite the cold, construction in Spokane Falls never stopped, and the coming spring promises a building boom that will double the city's size.
- Spokane Bets $1,000 on a Road to the Coeur d'Alene Mines
A Saturday-night mass meeting in Cannon's Hall puts real money behind a wagon road from Spokane Falls into the mining country — and the boosters are already calling their town 'the Denver of the Northwest.'
- Spokane Prepares to Welcome the Northern Pacific’s Last-Spike Excursion
In September 1883, Spokane Falls planned arches, speeches and a day of civic pageantry to greet President Henry Villard and the railroad party opening the transcontinental line.
- Spokane Falls Organizes to Build Its First Public Library
A handful of citizens meet in Cannon's Hall to launch a free reading room and library — a public institution open to all, funded by subscription, and aimed at the thousands who will make the town their home.
- The Six-Story Mill Built on a Rock in the Spokane River
In 1883, S. G. Havermale and B. F. Davis began raising a flour mill and elevator on Little Island, betting that water power and wheat would make Spokane Falls a grain capital.
- Browne's Block: A New Brick Landmark Rises at Post and Riverside
A detailed tour of Spokane Falls' most ambitious new commercial building, nearly complete and set to open December 1.
- The Gold Rush That Wouldn't Wait for Spring
A Spokane Falls merchant is summoned back to the snowbound Coeur d'Alene mines as fortune hunters pour in a month early — and the Falls positions itself as the gateway to the new El Dorado.
- The Town That Grew 'In Spite of Reason'
A Walla Walla editor visits Spokane Falls and tries to explain its explosive growth — new brick blocks, crowded lodging houses, idle men in the streets, and a land office so busy it needs two more clerks.
- A California Mining Veteran Bets Everything on the Coeur d'Alene Gold Rush
George Henderson, a hardened prospector out of Martinez, California, arrives in Spokane Falls, spends one day in the Coeur d'Alene diggings, and walks out having staked claims, built two houses, and hired a crew to winter over — telling the town the mines 'could not be exaggerated.'
- Spokane's Citizens Buy Themselves a Road to the Gold Fields
In fifteen minutes, local businessmen pledged a quarter of a $20,000 stock company to run stages and freight wagons between Spokane Falls and the Coeur d'Alene mines — before another town could steal the traffic.