The Great Northern Railway Arrives in Spokane
After years of construction, the final spike connects Spokane to the Great Northern line, linking the city to the East.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The Great Northern railway reached Spokane tonight. When the workmen ceased laying track this evening, this end of the track was within a short distance of the end of the Ross Park electric railway and only a mile distant from the point where the Great Northern will join the Union Pacific track. The first through train over the Great Northern arrived at 11 o'clock tonight. It consisted of an engine, baggage car and a passenger coach, and brought three passengers through from St. Paul and a number from shorter distances. President Hill is en route here from St. Paul, and is expected Monday or Tuesday.
“The first through train over the Great Northern arrived at 11 o'clock tonight.”
The arrival of the Great Northern marked Spokane’s transition from a regional hub to a transcontinental gateway, mirroring current debates about how light rail and high-speed connections define the economic viability of modern Pacific Northwest cities.
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