Major Wholesale District Fire Strikes Spokane
A Tuesday morning blaze destroys $150,000 in property, threatening an entire block along Railroad Avenue.
The story, cleaned up
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Fire in the heart of the wholesale district of Spokane early Tuesday morning destroyed or damaged property valued at nearly $150,000 and for a time threatened all of the block on the south side of Railroad Avenue, between Post and Mill streets. The heaviest losers were the Cudahy Packing Company, which occupied the two-story building, and Dr. C. P. Thomas and R. Beckon, owners of the building. Booth-McClintock, wholesale grocer supplies at Post Street and Railroad Avenue, suffered damages estimated at $60,000. When the firemen reached the blaze, huge clouds of smoke were rolling from the Cudahy building, where the fire was discovered. The blaze evidently originated in the rear of the Cudahy building, as officers had passed there only half an hour before the fire broke out.
“When the firemen reached the blaze, huge clouds of smoke were rolling from the Cudahy building.”
Railroad Avenue was once the industrial heartbeat of Spokane, defined by its proximity to the rail lines. Today, the area remains a historic district, though it has transitioned from wholesale packing houses to restaurants and modern commercial lofts, mirroring the city's wider shift from an industrial base to a service-oriented economy.
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