Timeline of Spokane, Washington

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Spokane, Washington, USA.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by editing the page to add missing items, with references to reliable sources.

19th Century

• 1874 - Spokane Falls settlement established in Washington Territory by James N. Glover. ^[1]
• 1879 - Spokane Times newspaper begins publication. ^[2]
• 1880 - Population: 350. ^[3]
• 1881 - November 29: Spokane Falls incorporated as a town and then as a City. ^[1]
• 1882 - Spokane becomes seat of Spokane County. ^[1]
• 1883
  • Northern Pacific Railway begins operating. ^[1]
  • Central School opens.
• 1884 - YMCA established. ^[4]
• 1887
  • Sacred Heart Hospital opens. ^[5]
  • Jesuit Gonzaga College established. ^[1]
• 1889
  • August 4–6: The Great Fire. ^[1]
  • Union Pacific Railroad begins operating. ^[1]
  • Town becomes part of the new U.S. State of Washington.
• 1890
  • Town of Spokane Falls renamed "Spokane." ^[1]
  • Casino Opera House opens (approximate date). ^[6]
  • Population: 19,922. ^[3]
• 1891
  • Spokane High School and Holy Names Academy built. ^[7]
  • Amtrak inter-city rail station opened.
• 1892 - Great Northern Railway built. ^[3]
• 1893 - September 19: Franz Ferdinand of Austria visits town incognito. ^[8]
• 1894 - The Spokesman-Review newspaper in publication.
• 1895
  • Spokane County Courthouse built. ^[9]
  • U.S. military Fort George Wright established near town. ^[1]
• 1896 - Deaconess Hospital established. ^[1]
• 1897 - Chamber of Commerce ^[10] and Spokane Stock Exchange established.
• 1900 - Population: 36,848. ^{[3] [1]}

20th century

• 1904
  • Spokane and Inland Empire Railroad began operations (until 1929).
  • Manito Park and Botanical Gardens created. ^[1]
• 1905
  • Spokane Public Library building opens. ^[11]
  • Woman's Club formed. ^[7]
• 1908 - Portland-Spokane railway begins operating.
• 1909 - Federal building constructed. ^[2]
• 1910
  • Commission form of government adopted. ^[1]
  • Population: 104,402. ^[1]
• 1914
  • Whitworth College active.
  • Davenport Hotel in business. ^[6]
  • Clemmer Theater built.
• 1915 - Spokane Mountaineers club formed.
• 1916
  • Eastern Washington State Historical Society established. [12]
  • Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture established as the Cheney Cowles Museum.
• 1919 - National Association for the Advancement of Colored People chapter founded. ^[13]
• 1921 - Civic building opens. ^[2]
• 1925 - October: National Indian Congress held. ^[14]
• 1929
  • Spokane Daily Times begins publication. ^[15]
  • Cambern Dutch Shop Windmill built. ^[7]
• 1931 - Fox Theater an Art Deco movie theater
• 1932 - Park Inn opens. ^[16]
• 1933 - Grand Coulee Dam construction begins in vicinity of Spokane. ^[17]
• 1935 - Benewah Milk Bottle building constructed.
• 1938 - Spokane Art Center opens. ^[2]
• 1939 - Doyle's Ice Cream Parlor opens. ^[18]
• 1942 - U.S. military Fairchild Air Force Base begins operating near Spokane.
• 1946
  • Spokane municipal airport active. ^[17]
  • Yoke's Fresh Market in business.
• 1947 - Spokane Civic Theatre incorporated.
• 1954
  • Spokane Coliseum opens.
  • Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist built.
• 1955 - NorthTown Mall in business.
• 1960
  • Mayor-council-manager form of government adopted. ^[17]
  • Population: 181,608. ^[17]
• 1963
  • Spokane Community College established.
  • Protest during the Civil Rights Movement ^[19]
• 1967 - Spokane Falls Community College opens.
• 1974
  • Spokane Convention Center built.
  • Pavilion Opera House and River Park Square shopping center open.
  • Expo '74 world's fair held in Spokane. ^[17]
• 1977 - Lilac Bloomsday Run begins. ^[17]
• 1978
  • Spokane Fire Station Museum established. ^[12]
  • Riverfront Park established.
• 1981
  • Spokane River Centennial Trail constructed. ^[17]
  • Spokane Historic Landmarks Commission created.
• 1990 - Spokane Hoopfest begins. ^[20]
• 1995
  • Community Health Association of Spokane active. ^[21]
  • Spokane Arena opens.
• 1996 - City website online (approximate date). ^{[22] [23]}
• 1997
  • Spokane Preservation Advocates organized.
  • Spokane Valley Mall in business near city.
• 1999 - Spokane Washington Temple opens.

21st century

• 2003
  • September 23: Gun incident at high school. ^[24]
  • James E. West becomes the 43rd mayor. ^[25]
• 2005
  • Cathy McMorris Rodgers becomes U.S. representative for Washington's 5th congressional district. ^[26]
  • Spokane Valley Heritage Museum established.
• 2007 - Spokane hosts U.S. Figure Skating Championships
• 2010
  • Population: 208,916. ^[27]
  • Spokane hosts U.S. Figure Skating Championships
• 2011 - January: Bombing attempt. ^[28]
• 2012 - David Condon becomes the 46th mayor of Spokane.
• 2020
  • Population: 228,989. ^[29]
  • Nadine Woodward becomes the 47th Mayor of Spokane.
  • Construction began on the Spokane Sportsplex owned by the Spokane Public Facilities District.
  • Construction began on the City Line.

See also

• History of Spokane, Washington
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Spokane
• Timeline of Washington (state) history

other cities in Washington

• Timeline of Seattle
• Timeline of the Tri-Cities, Washington

References

1. Britannica 1910.
2. Federal Writers' Project 1941.
3. Kensel 1969.
4. "Discovering Our History". YMCA of the Inland Northwest. Retrieved December 16, 2025.
5. "Our History". providence.org. Providence. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
6. Alan Michelson (ed.). "Pacific Coast Architecture Database". Seattle: University of Washington. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
7. Historic Preservation Office. "Historic Properties of Spokane". City-County of Spokane. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
8. C. S. Kingston (1925). "Franz Ferdinand at Spokane—1893". Washington Historical Quarterly. 16 (1): 3–7. JSTOR   40475476.
9. "Historical Dates and Maps". Spokane County. Archived from the original on January 18, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
10. "Finding Aids". Northwest Digital Archives . Retrieved December 30, 2014.
11. American Library Annual, 1917-1918. New York: R.R. Bowker Co. 1918. pp. 7 v.
12. American Association for State and Local History (2002). "Washington: Spokane". Directory of Historical Organizations in the United States and Canada. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC. ISBN   0759100020.
13. Mack 2014.
14. "Barnes Northwest Room: Digital Collections". Spokane Public Library. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
15. "US Newspaper Directory". Chronicling America. Washington DC: Library of Congress. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
16. Brand, Nathan (January 9, 2013). "Park Inn: The Untold Story". The Inlander. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
17. "History: Time Line". City of Spokane. Archived from the original on December 2, 2014. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
18. Nailen, Dan. "Best Of Food". inlander.com. The Inlander. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
19. Mack 2003.
20. "Spokane Hoopfest". www.spokanehoopfest.net. Archived from the original on June 9, 2009.
21. Mike Tigas and Sisi Wei, ed. (May 9, 2013). "Spokane, Washington". Nonprofit Explorer. New York: ProPublica . Retrieved December 30, 2014.
22. "City of Spokane". Archived from the original on December 5, 1998 – via Internet Archive, Wayback Machine.
23. Spokane Public Library. "City Government Home Page". Archived from the original on January 13, 1997.
24. "Student Shot in Standoff at a Spokane High School". New York Times. September 23, 2003.
25. "James West, 55, Spokane Mayor Ousted in a Sex Scandal, Dies". New York Times. July 25, 2006.
26. "Washington". Official Congressional Directory: 109th Congress. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. 2005. ISBN   9780160724664.
27. "Spokane (city), Washington". State & County QuickFacts. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
28. "In Spokane, a Mystery With No Good Solution". New York Times. February 13, 2011.
29. "QuickFacts 2020". census.gov. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved August 11, 2022.

Bibliography

See also: History of Spokane, Washington § Bibliography

• Settlers' guide to homes in the northwest, being a hand-book of Spokane Falls, W.T. Spokane Falls: Dallam, Ansell & Edwards. 1885.
• Jonathan Edwards (1900), Illustrated History of Spokane County, W.H. Lever, OCLC   4873043, OL   6912581M
• "Spokane"  . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 25 (11th ed.). 1910. pp. 713–714.
• Nelson Wayne Durham (1912), History of the city of Spokane and Spokane County, Washington, Chicago: S.J. Clarke Pub. Co., OCLC   3098070, OL   13528646M
• Spokane City Directory. Polk's Spokane directory1920-1924. Polk. 1913. hdl:2027/uc1.l0065060402.
• Federal Writers' Project (1941), "Spokane", Washington: a Guide to the Evergreen State, American Guide Series, Portland, Or.: Binfords & Mort, hdl:2027/uc1.b3624995 – via HathiTrust
• W. Hudson Kensel (1969). "Inland Empire Mining and the Growth of Spokane, 1883-1905". Pacific Northwest Quarterly. 60 (2): 84–97. JSTOR   40488655.
• Dwayne A. Mack (2003). "Crusade for Equality: Spokane's Civil Rights Movement during the Early 1960s". Pacific Northwest Quarterly. 95.
• Dwayne A. Mack (2014). Black Spokane: The Civil Rights Struggle in the Inland Northwest. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN   978-0-8061-4712-3.

External links

• Items related to Spokane, various dates (via Digital Public Library of America).