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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1883 | 11 |
| 1884 | 6 |
17 stories matching main
- Bank Bets Big on Spokane Falls Corner
A livery stable lot at Main and Howard sells for a tidy sum as the National Bank plans a three-story brick block, proof of the city's soaring property market.
- Spokane Falls Council Orders Its Main Streets Graded
Aldermen vote to grade Riverside Avenue, Front, Main and Post streets — the first of a summer of public works meant to make the raw town look like a metropolis.
- An Arsonist's Fire in the Black Hawk Stable
A pre-dawn blaze in a Main Street livery kills four valuable horses and nearly takes the block — and the town is sure it was set on purpose.
- A Violent Brawl Over a 'Too Muchly' Married Man
Two women engaged in a public, physical altercation on Main Street, drawing a crowd and ending in a wild, gun-toting pursuit.
- A False Alarm Reveals Spokane Has No Fire Department
A burst of flame over Howard and Main sends a crowd running — and the paper demands a fire department before a real blaze eats the business district.
- A New City Charter Would Let Spokane Bill You for Water Whether You Use It or Not
Council Bill No. 77 would hand the city sweeping power over water works — including the right to tax any lot that merely fronts a water main, used or not, and to charge a tenant's bill to the landlord.
- A Frontier City That Could Not Stop Building
Brick blocks, storefronts, and frame houses rose across Spokane Falls as contractors raced winter—and touted the town's future.
- The Unknown Man Below the Falls
A decomposing body wedged between trees near a downtown Spokane thoroughfare is examined by a coroner's jury — and buried without a name.
- Spokane Falls Catches the 'Building Fever'
Every block in town is adding a structure, and Frank R. Moore's new brick block on Howard Street signals that the city's old capitalists believe in its future.
- A Silver Strike North of the Falls Promises a Fortune
Four men from Tacoma and Spokane incorporate the Spokane Mining and Smelting Company on a claim in the Colville country, with assays running nearly $60 a ton.
- A Spokane Craftsman's Twelve-Year Masterpiece in Human Hair
Charles Streib spent over a decade creating portraits of Generals Washington and Sherman from thousands of strands of human hair—a feat of patience and artistry that astonished the city.
- A Joint-Stock Stage Line to Beat the Railroad to the Mines
Spokane businessmen subscribe a $20,000 company to run daily stages and freight to Eagle City, betting the gold rush will make their town the gateway to the Coeur d'Alenes.
- 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.
- The Man Who Survived Thirteen Doctors
A patient's wry, furious account of his bout with spinal meningitis — and the horse-doctor who killed a servant girl with a morphine syringe — skewers the medical profession of his day.
- Gold Fever at the Doorstep: The Coeur d'Alene Rush
Word of fabulously rich quartz strikes fifty miles east of Spokane Falls has set off a stampede — veterans of '49 are said to be packing up again, and 50,000 men are expected in the mountains next spring, with Spokane Falls positioning itself as the supply depot.
- 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.
- 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.