After the Great Fire, Tull Built Bigger
A Spokane furniture merchant lost a new bank building in the 1889 blaze, then rebuilt at Riverside and Stevens with the city's largest block.
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.
Francis M. Tull, of Spokane, representative from the Fourth district, removed to Spokane in 1887, where he bought the half-block on which the Tull block now stands, built a three-story brick block and opened a large wholesale and retail furniture and carpet house. He sold out at the end of the year and built a fine bank building, which was consumed in the great fire of 1889. Having the courage of a true Western man, he built the magnificent block that adorns the southeast corner of Riverside avenue and Stevens street. This is the largest block in the city of Spokane.
“Having the courage of a true Western man, he built the magnificent block that adorns the southeast corner of Riverside avenue and Stevens street.”
Spokane's 1889 fire destroyed much of the young downtown, but the rebuilding boom made the city into a brick-and-stone commercial center. The Tull Block at Riverside and Stevens is a reminder that disaster and boosterism often arrive together.
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