Interesting Spokane Valley trivia

SPOKANE HOME BUILDERS

Spokane Valley History 101

These are fun trivia Questions that have appeared in the Valley 101 feature of past Scoop newsletters.

What beautiful Valley street was the first development to impose building restrictions?
According to Valley historian Florence Boutwell, Ezra Smith,
editor of the Valley Herald at the time, developed 20 one-acre lots along Walnut Road between Sprague and Broadway and imposed a list of building restrictions. He forever enriched the street by lining it with black walnut saplings that today stand tall as a memorial to his high standards.

What Valley park is named after the man considered to be the Valley's first settler?
Plantes Ferry Park on Upriver Drive is named for

Antoine Plante, a French-Indian who worked as a trapper for the Hudson Bay Company. Around 1855 Plante built a home on the south side of the river across from the park and set up a 40' wooden barge

attached to a steel cable. The Mullan Road crossed the Spokane River at this point and business was

swift until 1864 when a bridge was built near where

I-90 crosses the river at the stateline.

What battle is the Argonne Bridge named after?
Argonne Road is named after the Argonne Forest in France. Originally called Woodard Road, the name was changed when the bridge at the river was built and named in honor of local boys who fought and died in the Battle of the Argonne Forest during late September of 1918 in WWI.

How did Opportunity get it's name?

In 1906 Laura Kelser won $10 by submitting the name "Opportunity" in a contest to name the new township being formed. That amount adjusted to current levels would be $212.

What Auto Row original was first located on the Northwest corner of Sprague and Argonne?
The sprawling giant we now know as Appleway Automotive Group, a subsidiary of the national conglomerate AutoNation, humbly began as one of the Northwest's first Chevrolet dealerships on the corner of Argonne and Sprague. John A. Pring Sr.bought into the two car showroom dealership with founder Charles Stevens in 1928 for $5,000. Pring weathered the hard times by developing land and building homes in the Valley.Pring moved the dealership to 8500 E. Sprague in 1941.

Where was the Valley's first dump located?
The original dump for the township of Opportunity was located at the Mission and Bowdish at the site of the Senior Citizens Center. It was later moved to 19th and Pines (at which time the garbage was burned and the smoke and ash irritated people moving into the new neighborhood being built called Opportunity Terrace in the 40's) . So then it was moved to Greenacres on the hill near what became the the ill-fated Holiday Hills resort and finally in 1970 it was moved to Mica.

Millwood dumped it's garbage orignally at the site of the present Millwood Town Park.

Developer Ted Gunning Babysat for the Man Who Started What Is Considered the Region's First Supermarket, who was he?
Mort Rosauer's father operated a grocery store on east Trent for several years and then Mort opened what is considered the area's first supermarket in Victory Heights at the bottom of the Sunset Hill.
   "My dad worked in the meat department there and my brother and I worked with him when I was 14 year's old," Ted Gunning told me, "He drove a slope-back yellow sedan and I thought, man he was a big time operator."
   "I remember the day the war was over there was bunch of hootin' and hollerin' all through the store," Ted said.
   Later in high school, Mort often asked Ted to babysit his children.

What Nearby city had a full blown riot in 1960, complete with smashed windows and flipped cars?
Apparently the hydro-plane races in Couer D' Alene in the early days was a wild and wooly,and sodden event and one year things got totally out of hand according to Don Lehnertz, who drove right threw a full blown riot on Sherman Avenue in 1960.
   " I was coming back from Spokane with a load of food," said Don, who was catering the event with his company, the Longhorn. "It was a riot, they were coming down Sherman right ahead of me headed in the same direction. I saw them flipping those Beetle cars and I was driving a brand new,white Ford
pick up and I said,' they sure as hell ain't gettin' my truck,' so I put it in low gear and put the pedal to the floor and busted right through them. They scattered everywhere and I made it through."
"The cops formed a line in front of our place and stopped them," he said, " They really busted up Sherman Avenue, it was just a bunch of drunks."

   What does the Valley have that no other community in Washington state has?
    At one time, rural communities like Opportunity, Dishman and Trentwood were known as townships. Most had halls where official business and social gatherings were held.
Today, there is only one such building still standing in our state and that is the old Opportunity Township Hall where the Valley
Heritage Museum is now located at 12114 E. Sprague It operated as the township hall from 1909 to 1974.

Of all the old Vally townships such as Trentwood, Dishman and Opportuntiy, only Millwood incorporated. When did they do that and how big is it ?
Millwood incorporated in 1927. There are a total of 1,649 Millwoodites, or are they Millwoodians, or should they be called Millwoodies? The city limits encompass a wopping .7 sq. miles. The Spokane Valley covers 38.5 miles, Spokane -58.5 and Coeur D'Alene is 13.9.

Where does the familiar term Appleway come from?

Local residences dubbed the Veredale portion of Sprague "Appleway" in the 1920's because of all the the orchards in that area. At one time, more than 12,000 Valley acres were dedicated to the fruit. Up until the 70's, places like Renfro's, Falco's and the Farmer's Market survived year round, mostly selling local produce

The iconic red "H" Halpins sign has been towering above Sprague since 1969. What are you suppose to do when it is flashing?

For 39 years, Halpin's has been using a little marketing trick to entice drivers to stop and come into the Treasure Room to recieve a little booty. When the sign is flashing you can go in and get a prize. Having never been observant enough to notice before now, the Scoop can not say exactly what sorts of prizes may be offered.

What company originally built and ran the Kaiser Trentwood Plant?

Alcoa originally built the 52 acre aluminum plant (the nation's largest) in 1942 under a government contract. Valley historian Florence Boutwell reports that the site was built to support the war effort and produced enough aluminum rolled sheets to build 25,000 planes between November of 1942 and September of 1945 when it was shut down. The Permanente Metals Corporation began leasing the plant from the government in 1946 and soon changed it's name to Kaiser Aluminum

Why are the cliffs below Ribletts mansion white?

The cliffs below Riblett's Mansion which overlooks the Valley due north of Pines road were coated with a white dusting from the cement plant below on the south side of the river.
   Royal Riblet tried, unsuccessfully, to sue the plant several times. During the war years he was told his lawsuit was unpatriotic because cement was necessary for the war effort.
   According to Florence Boutwell, Royal did not invent the tramway as many believe. Rather he worked for his brother Byron who owned the famous Riblet Tramway Company.
   Neither invented the tramway.

What year did the Federal government sell the U.S. Naval Depot
(now known as the Spokane Industrial Park) and who bought it?

The federal government sold the Depot to Washington Water Power in 1960 which converted it into an industrial park.

After WWII, the workforce was cut from 2,700 to 300. Twelve of the 17 buildings were sealed and dehumidified and their contents awaited the next conflict which came with the Korean War.

What was the first Junior High School in the CV district and what year was it built?
Built in 1949, North Pines was the first Junior High in Central Valley. Students were bussed in from Greenacres and Veradale. Until then, kids went to grade school through 8th grade and then 9th through 12th at Central Valley. Today it takes 5 middle schools to handle the same area.

What Year was the first Interstate Fair held?

The first Spokane Interstate Fair was held in 1901 at the site of what became Playfair. It was moved to it's current location in 1957. According to Valley historian, Florence Boutwell, 1927 was was long remembered year due to the appearence of Charles Lindberg.

Why is the old time Valley Tshirley family important to both Vera Water and Power and the Good Samaritan Center?

According to Valley historian Florence Boutwell, Bill Tshirley began working at Vera Water and Power in 1914 at the age of 16. Before retiring in 1946 he had worked his way up to superintendent. He often climbed down into the district's four 125-foot deep wells to maintain and service the pumps.The river-rock castle turret pump house on Evergreen is named after him.
The property the Good Samaritan Home is built on was donated by Bill and his wife Helene in 1954. In the early 1900's Bill's father, Paul, traded land he owned near Quincy, Washington for the 160-acre tract. The Good Samaritan was completed in 1962 at a cost of $200,000. Bill and Helene spent there last years there.

How deep did the snow actually get in '68?
The winter of 68'/69' was extraordinary not because of how much actually fell, 77.5", but because of how much piled up before melting. While December was fairly normal that year, the white stuff came down heavy in January and accumulated to a total of 42" on the ground.

Another unusual aspect of that winter was that it occurred during an El Nino where as nearly all record snowfall winters, like this year, have occurred during an El Nina. The winter of 68'/69 ranks 9th for total snowfall.

Where was the first recognized community located in the Valley? The first recognized community was built up around the first bridge crossing the Spokane river in the area near where I-90 crosses the river at the stateline. The long gone community had the county's first post office built in 1867.

The Deja Vu "gentleman's club" at 8722 E. Sprague was originally what theater and when did it open?

The Deja Vu was originally the Dishman Theater which seated 500 moviegoers. It was built in 1939 and owned by A.T. Dishman. During my adolescent years (the 60's) it was where we all went to watch the latest Disney flicks. In the early 70's it got a major renovation and I saw such first run features as "Fiddler on the Roof", "Ice Station Zebra" and "Tommy" there. Sadly, by the late 70's it was reduced to porn movies and today it is what one website euphamistically called a " a gentleman's club." (I don't think Elaine would think it very gentlemanly of me to go there to get a lap dance.)

Sally Jackson's grandparents raised an animal that did well here because of the area's cold winters. But given the the political climate of today's world, no one raises these animals around here. What was the animal?
Sally's grandparent's had a mink ranch. She remembers the animals' pens were elevated off the ground and they had to be kept separate because of their violent disposition. At one time there were 3 other mink ranches in the Valley.
Their home and some of the red out buildings still stand on the south side of 8th just west of Eastern in Edgecliff. Sally, who was raised nearby, remembers that they did not get running water and electricity there until she entered the first grade.
What were the two Valley companies that sponsored the teams that Sal Jackson coached for most of her career and where did she and most other winning coaches take their teams for a reward?

Sal's first team was Dan's Conoco which used to be approximately across Sprague from the vacant Old European building.Then for most of her years she coached the team sponsored by Falco's. Back in the day when Dilly bars cost a dime, the old Dairy Queen on the southwest corner of Bowdish and Sprague would heave with happy winning teams all summer long. But that was back when the whole team could fit in the back of a pick up and just wave or make faces at any cop who might come along.

When and why was the Upriver Dam Built?
The Upriver Dam, located a few miles downstream from the Argonne Bridge, was built in 1894 by the City of Spokane to provide fresh water for the city. The dam originally was made of timber cribbing and the pump station built at the same time provided 10 million gallons a day. In 1933, the timbers were replaced with a concrete dam and a powerhouse was added. Today the powerhouse produces 70 million kilowatts annually which is used to pump water to all parts of Spokane.

When Pines crosses Trent to the north what road does it become? On the north side of Trent, Pines road is called Cement road. This goes back to the days when the Portland Cement plant was located a few blocks north of Trent and Pines. Portland Cement was invented by an English bricklayer named Joseph Aspdin in 1824. He named it after building stone that was quarried on the Isle of Portland, a pennisula in the English Channel,