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Spokane, Washington "Spokane" Spokane, Washington City of Spokane Downtown Spokane from Palisades Park Spokane River flowing by Canada Island Centennial Trail through Downtown Spokane Top row: Downtown Spokane; 2nd row: Spokane River flowing by Canada Island, Spokane River Centennial Trail; 3rd row: Riverfront Park; 4th row: Manito Park and Botanical Gardens, Monroe Street Bridge Flag of Spokane, Washington Flag Official logo of Spokane, Washington Location of Spokane in - Spokane County and Washington Location of Spokane in Spokane County and Washington Spokane, Washington is positioned in the US Spokane, Washington - Spokane, Washington County Spokane Body Spokane City Council Spokane (Listeni/spo k n/ spoh-kan) is a town/city in the state of Washington, in the northwestern United States. It is the seat of Spokane County, and the economic and cultural center of the Spokane Metropolitan Area, the Greater Spokane Area, and the Inland Northwest. It is positioned along the Spokane River west of the Rocky Mountain foothills in easterly Washington, 92 miles (148 km) south of the Canada US border, roughly 20 miles (30 km) from the Washington Idaho border, and 280 miles (450 km) east of Seattle along Interstate 90. The city, along with the whole Inland Northwest, is served by Spokane International Airport, 5 miles (8 km) west of downtown Spokane. According to the 2010 Census, Spokane had a populace of 208,916, making it the second biggest city in Washington and the 102nd biggest city in the United States. The first humans to live in the area, the Spokane citizens (their name meaning "children of the sun" in Salishan), appeared between 13,000 and 8,000 years ago, residing off plentiful game. Known as the place of birth of Father's Day, Spokane is officially nicknamed the "Lilac City". David Thompson explored the region with the westward expansion and establishment of the North West Company's Spokane House in 1810. Completion of the Northern Pacific Railway in 1881 brought pioneer to the Spokane area, and that same year it was officially incorporated as a town/city with the name of "Spokan Falls". Spokane hosted the first surroundingally themed World's Fair at Expo '74. The Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes serves as the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane, and the town/city is also the center of the Mormon Spokane Washington Temple District. Gonzaga University was established in 1887 by the Jesuits, and the private Presbyterian Whitworth University opened three years later in north Spokane. Professional and semi-professional sports squads include the Spokane Indians in Minor League Baseball, Spokane Empire in arena football, and Spokane Chiefs in junior ice hockey. As of 2010, Spokane's only primary everyday newspaper, The Spokesman-Review, has a everyday circulation of over 76,000. Main articles: History of Spokane, Washington and Timeline of Spokane, Washington Lithograph depicting the Spokane falls in 1888 Spokane Falls in 1888 The first humans to live in the Spokane region appeared between 13,000 and 8,000 years ago and were hunter-gatherer societies that lived off plentiful game. The Spokane tribe, after which the town/city is titled (the name meaning "children of the sun" or "sun citizens " in Salishan), are believed to be either their direct descendants, or descendants of citizens from the Great Plains. When asked by early white explorers, the Spokanes said their ancestors came from "up North". Early in the 19th century, the Northwest Fur Company sent two white fur trappers west of the Rocky Mountains to search for fur. These were the first white men met by the Spokanes, who believed they were sacred, and set the trappers up in the Colville River valley for the winter. He sent out two trappers, Jacques Raphael Finlay and Finan Mc - Donald, to construct a fur trading post on the Spokane River in Washington and trade with the small-town Indians. This post was established in 1810, at the confluence of the Little Spokane and Spokane rivers, becoming the first enduring European settlement of significance in Washington state. Known as the Spokane House, or simply "Spokane", it was in operation from 1810 to 1826. Operations were run by the British North West Company and later the Hudson's Bay Company, and the post was the command posts of the fur trade between the Rocky and Cascade mountain peaks for 16 years. After the latter company combined the North West Company in 1821, the primary operations at the Spokane House were eventually shifted north to Fort Colville, reducing the post's significance. Missionary Samuel Parker attended Spokane Falls in 1836 In 1836, Reverend Samuel Parker attended the region and announced that around 800 Native Americans were residing in Spokane Falls. A medical mission was established by Marcus and Narcissa Whitman to cater for Cayuse Indians and hikers of the Oregon Trail at Walla Walla in the south. After the Whitmans were killed by Indians in 1847, Reverend Cushing Eells established Whitman College in their memory, also setting up the first church in Spokane. In 1853, two years after the establishment of the Washington Territory, the first governor, Isaac Stevens, made an initial accomplishment to make a treaty with Chief Garry and the Spokanes at Antoine Plantes' Ferry, not far from Millwood. After the last campaign of the Yakima Indian War, the Coeur d'Alene War of 1858 was brought to a close by the actions of Col. George Wright, who won decisive victories against a confederation of tribes in engagements at the battles of Four Lakes and Spokane Plains. The cessation of hostilities opened the inter-mountain valley of the Pacific Northwest to safe surroundingion by settlers. The town/city of Spokane Falls about 1895 Scranton, cattle ranchers who squatted and established a claim at Spokane Falls in 1871. Together they assembled a small sawmill on a claim near the south bank of the falls. James N. Glover and Jasper Matheney, Oregonians passing through the region in 1873, recognized the value of the Spokane River and its falls for the purpose of water power. They realized the investment potential and bought the claims of 160 acres (65 ha) and the sawmill from Downing and Scranton for a total of $4,000. Glover and Matheney knew that the Northern Pacific Railroad Company had received a government charter to build a chief line athwart this northern route. Amid many delays in assembly and uncertainty over the culmination of the barns and its exact course, Matheney sold his interest in the claim to Glover. Glover confidently held on to his claim and became a prosperous Spokane company owner and the city's second mayor. He later came to be known as the "Father of Spokane". Henry Clay Merriam 56 miles (90 km) northwest of Spokane, at the junction of the Columbia and Spokane Rivers, to protect the assembly of the Northern Pacific Railway and secure a place for U.S. Settlement. By June 30, 1881, the stockyards reached the city, bringing primary European settlement to the area. The town/city of Spokan Falls (the "e" was added in 1883 and "Falls" dropped in 1891) was officially incorporated as a town/city of about 1,000 inhabitants on November 29, 1881. When Spokane was officially incorporated in 1881 Robert W. Gray, all serving without pay. The marketing campaigns of transit companies with affordable fertile territory to sell along their trade routes flourishing many pioneer into the region they dubbed "Spokane Country". The Spokane River Bridge at Fort Spokane near Miles, WA The Spokane River Bridge at Fort Spokane The 1883 discernment of gold, silver, and lead in the Coeur d'Alene region of northern Idaho flourishing prospectors. The Inland Empire erupted with various quarrying rushes from 1883 to 1892. Mining and smelting emerged as a primary stimulus to Spokane. At the onset of the initial 1883 gold rush in the close-by Coeur d'Alene quarrying district, Spokane became prominent with prospectors, offering low prices on everything "from a horse to a frying pan". It would keep this status for subsequent rushes in the region due to its trade center status and accessibility to barns infrastructure. Spokane's expansion continued unabated until August 4, 1889, when a fire, now known as The Great Fire (not to be confused with the Great Fire of 1910, which happened nearby), began just after 6:00 p.m. Eventually the winds and the fire died down; 32 blocks of Spokane's downtown core had been finished and one person killed. Spokane Falls in 1890 Spokane Falls, 1890 Even with this catastrophe, and in part because of it, Spokane experienced a building boom. The downtown was rebuilt, and the town/city was reincorporated under the present name of "Spokane" in 1891. According to historian David H. Stratton, "From the late 1890s to about 1912, a great flurry of assembly created a undivided urban profile of office buildings, banks, department stores, hotels and other commercial establishments" which stretched from the Spokane River to the site of the Northern Pacific barns tracks below the South Hill. Yet the stone and evolution of the town/city was far from smooth: between 1889 and 1896 alone, all six bridges over the Spokane River were finished by floods before their culmination. In the 1890s the town/city was subject to intrastate migration by African-Americans from Roslyn, looking for work after the closure of the area's mines. Hill's Great Northern Railway appeared in the chosen site for Hill's rail yards, the newly created township of Hillyard (annexed by Spokane in 1924). Spokane became an meaningful rail shipping and transit hub for the Inland Empire, connecting mines in the Silver Valley with agricultural areas around the Palouse region. The city's populace ballooned to 19,922 in 1890, and to 36,848 in 1900 with the arrival of extra barns s. By 1910 the populace had hit 104,000, and Spokane eclipsed Walla Walla as the commercial center of the Inland Empire. In time the town/city came to be known as the "capital" of the Inland Empire and the heart of a vast tributary region. After the arrival of the Northern Pacific, Union Pacific, Great Northern, and Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific barns s, Spokane became one of the most meaningful rail centers in the U.S. Expansion abruptly stopped in the 1910s and was followed by a reconstructionof populace decline, due in large part to Spokane's slowing economy. Control of county-wide mines and resources became increasingly dominated by nationwide corporations clean water small-town people and organizations, diverting capital outside of Spokane and decreasing expansion and investment opportunities in the city. During this time of stagnation, unrest was prevalent among the area's unemployed, who became victimized by "job sharks", who charged a fee for signing up workers in the logging camps. Job sharks and employment agencies were known to cheat itinerant workers, sometimes paying bribes to periodically fire entire work crews, thus generating repetitive fees for themselves. Crime spiked in the 1890s and 1900s, with eruptions of violent activeness involving unions such as the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), or "Wobblies" as they were often known, whose no-charge speech fights had begun to garner nationwide attention. Now, with grievances concerning the unethical practices of the employment agencies, they initiated a no-charge speech fight in September 1908 by purposely breaking a town/city ordinance on soapboxing. With IWW encouragement, union members from many states came to Spokane to take part in what had turn into a publicity stunt. Spokane's Masonic Temple, assembled in 1905 After quarrying declined at the turn of the 20th century, agriculture and logging became the major influences in the Spokane economy. The populace explosion and the building of homes, barns s, and mines in northern Idaho and southern British Columbia fueled the industry. Although overshadowed in importance by the vast timbered areas on the coastal regions west of the Cascades, and burdened with monopolistic rail freight rates and stiff competition, Spokane became a noted prestige in the manufacture of doors, window sashes, blinds, and other planing foundry products. Rail freight rates were much higher in Spokane than the rates in coastal seaport metros/cities such as Seattle and Portland, so much so that Minneapolis merchants could ship goods first to Seattle and then back to Spokane for less than shipping directly to Spokane, even though the rail line ran through Spokane on the way to the coast. Local morale was affected for years by the collapse of the Division Street Bridge early in the morning on December 15, 1915, which killed five citizens and injured over 20, but a new bridge was assembled (eventually replaced in 1994). The 1920 census showed a net increase of just 35 individuals, which actually indicates that thousands left the town/city when considering the natural expansion rate of a population. Growth in the 1920s and 1930s remained slow but less drastically so, forcing town/city boosters to market the town/city as a quiet, comfortable place suitable for raising a family clean water a dynamic improve full of opportunity. The Inland Empire was heavily dependent on natural resources and extractive goods produced from mines, forests, and farms, which experienced a fall in demand. The situation improved slightly with the start of World War II as aluminum manufacturing commenced in Spokane due to the area's inexpensive electricity (produced from county-wide dams) and the increased demand for aircraft s. After decades of stagnation and slow growth, Spokane businessmen formed Spokane Unlimited in the early 1960s, an organization that sought to revitalize downtown Spokane. A recreation park highlighting the Spokane Falls was the preferred option, and after prosperous negotiation to relocate the barns facilities on Havermale Island, Spokane hosted the first surroundingally themed World's Fair in Expo '74 on May 4, becoming the smallest town/city at the time to host a World's Fair. This event transformed Spokane's downtown, removing a century of barns transit framework and reinventing the urban core. Recession in 1981, in which silver, timber, and farm prices dropped. The reconstructionof diminish for the town/city lasted into the 1990s and was also marked by a loss of many steady family-wage jobs in the manufacturing sector. Although this was a tough period, Spokane's economy had started to benefit from some measure of economic diversification; burgeoning companies such as Key Tronic and other research, marketing, and assembly plants for technology companies helped lessen Spokane's dependence on natural resources. Spokane's skywalk network is among the nation's most extensive As of 2014, Spokane is still trying to make the transition to a more service-oriented economy in the face of a less prominent manufacturing sector. Developing the city's strength in the medical and community sciences fields has seen some success, resulting in the expansion of the University District with two medical school chapters. The town/city faces challenges such as a scarcity of high-paying jobs, pockets of poverty, and areas of high crime. The opening of the River Park Square Mall in 1999 sparked a downtown rebirth that encompassed the building of the Spokane Arena and expansion of the Spokane Convention Center. Other primary projects include the building of the Big Easy concert home (now the Knitting Factory) and renovation of the historic Montvale Hotel, the Kirtland Cutter-designed Davenport Hotel (after being vacant for over 20 years), the Fox Theater (now home to the Spokane Symphony) as well as the culmination of the WSU Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences Building in 2013 and the Davenport Grand Hotel in 2015 and the ongoing renovation of Riverfront Park (as of October 2016). The Kendall Yards evolution on the west side of downtown Spokane is one of the biggest assembly projects in the city's history. Directly athwart the Spokane River from downtown, it will blend residentiary and retail space with plazas and strolling trails. Night aerial view of Kootenai County, Idaho (foreground) and Spokane County (background) in December 2014 Spokane is positioned on the Spokane River in easterly Washington at an altitude of 1,843 feet (562 m) above sea level, about 20 miles (32 km) from Idaho, 110 miles (180 km) south of the Canada US border, 232 miles (373 km) due east of Seattle, and 277 miles (446 km) southwest of Calgary. The lowest altitude in the town/city of Spokane is the northernmost point of the Spokane River inside town/city limits (in Riverside State Park) at 1,608 feet (490 m); the highest altitude is on the northeast side, near the improve of Hillyard (though closer to Beacon Hill and the North Hill Reservoir) at 2,591 feet (790 m). Spokane is part of the Inland Northwest region, consisting of easterly Washington, northern Idaho, northwestern Montana, and northeastern Oregon. The town/city has a total region of 60.02 square miles (155.45 km2), of which 59.25 square miles (153.46 km2) is territory and 0.77 square miles (1.99 km2) is water. The Spokane River rushes passed Canada Island in Riverfront Park The Upper Spokane Falls of the Spokane River flowing by Canada Island Spokane lies in the Northern Rockies ecoregion near the easterly edge of the basaltic Channeled Scablands steppe, a plain that then eventually rises sharply to the east towards the rugged, timbered Rocky Mountain foothills, the Selkirk Mountains. It is in a transition region between the barren landscape of the Columbia Basin and the coniferous forests to the east; to the south are the lush prairies and rolling hills of the Palouse. The highest peak in Spokane County is Mount Spokane, at an altitude of 5,883 feet (1,793 m), positioned on the easterly side of the Selkirk Mountains. The most prominent water feature in the region is the Spokane River, a 111-mile (179 km) tributary of the Columbia River, originating from Lake Coeur d'Alene in northern Idaho. The river flows west athwart the Washington state line through downtown Spokane, meeting Latah Creek, then turns to the northwest, where it is joined by the Little Spokane River on its way to the Columbia River, north of Davenport. The Channeled Scablands and many of the area's various large lakes, such as Lake Coeur d'Alene and Lake Pend Oreille, were formed by the Missoula Floods after the ice-dammed Glacial Lake Missoula ruptured at the end of the last ice age. The Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge south of Cheney is the closest natural reserve, the closest National Forest is the Colville National Forest, the closest National Recreation Area is the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area and the closest nationwide park is Mount Rainier National Park, roughly a four-and-a-half hour drive away from Spokane. Spokane is inside the Northern/Canadian Rockies ecoregion, which supports an abundance of wildlife in part because of its varied geology and natural history. The ponderosa pine is the official tree of the City of Spokane, which is where specimens were first collected by botanist David Douglas in 1826. As of June 2016, there are 16 wolf packs in easterly Washington. In August 2016, photo evidence confirmed a solitary wolf in Mount Spokane State Park. Spokane has a humid continental climate (Dsb under the Koppen classification), a rare climate due to its altitude and momentous winter precipitation; Spokane, however, is contiguous to and sometimes even classified as a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Csb) because the average temperature for the coldest month is just over 27 F ( 3 C). Spokane's location, between the Cascades Range to the west and the Rocky Mountains to the east and north, protects it from weather patterns experienced in other parts of the Pacific Northwest. The Cascade Mountains form a barrier to the eastward flow of moist and mostly mild air from the Pacific Ocean in winter and cool air in summer. As a result of the precipitation shadow effect of the Cascades, the Spokane region has 16.5 inches (420 mm) average annual precipitation, less than half of Seattle's 37 inches (940 mm). The most rain occurs in December, and summer is the driest time of the year. The Rockies shield Spokane from some of the winter season's coldest air populace traveling southward athwart Canada. Climate data for Spokane, Washington (Spokane Int'l), 1981 2010 normals, extremes 1881 present Climate data for Spokane (Riverside) 1953 1983 normals and extremes See also: List of mayors of Spokane, Washington Spokane City Hall The City of Spokane operates under a mayor council form of government, with executive and legislative chapters. In 2011, David Condon was voted for mayor as a non-partisan candidate, taking office on the last company day of the year. The previous mayor was Mary Verner, who succeeded the recalled James "Jim" West. The town/city voted for James Everett Chase as its first black mayor in 1981, and after his retirement, voted for the city's first woman mayor, Vicki Mc - Neil. Spokane is the governmental center of county of Spokane County, a position it wrested from Cheney in 1886. Democrat Jay Inslee was voted for governor of the state of Washington in 2012. Federally, Spokane is inside Washington's 5th congressional district, and has been represented in the House of Representatives by Republican Cathy Mc - Morris Rodgers since 2004. Washington State is represented nationally in the Senate by Democrat Patty Murray and Democrat Maria Cantwell. In the 2012 general election, Spokane County favored Mitt Romney for President over Barack Obama by 51.5 to 45.7 percent; on the state ballot, the county supported the legalization of recreational marijuana ballot measure by 52.2 to 47.9 percent and opposed the legalization of same-sex marriage by 44.1 to 55.9 percent. Spokane indigenous Tom Foley was a Democratic Speaker of the House and served as a representative of Washington's 5th precinct for 30 years, appreciateing large support from Spokane, until his narrow defeat in the "Republican Revolution" of 1994, the only time U.S. Spokane The crime rate per 1,000 citizens in the Spokane urbane region (Spokane County) was 64.8 in 2012, higher than the Washington state average of 38.3; the violent crime rate of 3.8 and property crime rate of 61 also exceed the statewide averages of 2.5 and 35.8, in the order given. Spokane's crime rate is also higher for both violent and property crime than in 98% of communities in the U.S. The Spokane County Courthouse in the West Central neighborhood Spokane County Courthouse Data shows that most crimes announced in the town/city tend to be concentrated around the downtown town/city center and its environs. Half of all property crimes are localized in about 6.5 percent of the city. An individual in Spokane has a one in fourteen chance of becoming a victim of burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, or arson. Spokane had the fourth highest rate of auto theft in the U.S. In 2010 and 2011 as stated to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Drive-by gun crimes and drug use, especially crack cocaine use, became worse in the early 1990s, and four drive-by gun crimes were recorded in December 1993 alone. In the 1990s, a special gang unit inside the Spokane Police Department was established, with an officer "collecting intelligence on gang activeness and disseminating it to street officers". The 1990s also saw Spokane's most prolific serial killer, Robert Lee Yates, who killed thirteen prostitutes in Spokane's East Sprague red light precinct and confessed to two the rest in Tacoma, Washington. The transition of the Spokane Police Department to a community-policing precinct model has been prosperous in curbing crime rates since its introduction downtown, and has been period citywide. The crime woes are possibly due in part to an imbalance that Spokane County prisons receive of pre-release and work-release prisoners; An investigation by the Tacoma News Tribune found that while Spokane County accounts for 6.21 percent of the inmates in state prisons, it receives a excessive 16.73 percent of the inmate populace to be released into the general population. Spokane and the Spokane Police Department (SPD) have received nationwide publicity and scrutiny in the 2000s and 2010s due to many officer-involved gun crimes and allegations of excessive force. According to the American Community Survey, the median income for a homehold in Spokane in 2012 was $42,274, and the median income for a family was $50,268. In Spokane, 22.4% of inhabitants were under the age of 18, 12.3% were between the ages of 18 and 24, 27.6% were from 25 to 44, 25.1% were from 45 to 64, and 12.8% were 65 years of age or older. According to the Association of Religion Data Archives' 2010 Metro Area Membership Report, the denominational affiliations of the Spokane MSA are 64,277 Evangelical Protestant, 682 Black Protestant, 24,826 Mainline Protestant, 754 Orthodox, 66,202 Catholic, 31,674 Other, and 339,338 Unclaimed. As of 2016, there are also at least three Jewish congregations. The Emanu-El congregation erected the first Jewish church in Spokane and the state of Washington on September 14, 1892. The city's first mosque opened in 2009 as the Spokane Islamic Center. Spokane, like Washington and the Pacific Northwest region as a whole, is part of the Unchurched Belt, a region characterized by low church membership rates and theological participation. The town/city serves as the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane, which was established in 1913, and the Mormon Spokane Washington Temple District. Spokane has been criticized and sometimes derided for its lack of range and multicultural offerings, but the town/city has turn into more distinct in recent decades. People from countries in the former Soviet Union (especially Russians and Ukrainians) form a comparatively large demographic in Spokane and Spokane County, the result of a large influx of immigrants and their families after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. According to the 2000 Census, the number of citizens of Russian or Ukrainian lineage in Spokane County was announced to be 7,700 (4,900 living in the town/city of Spokane), amounting to two percent of the county. Among the fastest-growing demographics in Spokane is the Pacific Islander ethnic group, which is estimated to be the third biggest minority group in the county, after the Russian and Ukrainian improve and Latinos. Spokane was once home to a sizeable Asian community, mostly Japanese, centered in a precinct called Chinatown from the early days of the town/city until 1974. As in many railway towns, the Asian improve started off as an encampment for migrant workers working on the barns s. Spokane and its metro region in general, especially northern Idaho has been stigmatized in the prominent consciousness by a number of hate groups that have been set up in and around Coeur d'Alene, Idaho in the past. Low ethnic range made the region a destination for some seeking to escape more cosmopolitan metros/cities for a locale with a mostly homogenous, white population. The group went defunct in 2000 when the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a civil suit which resulted in a $6.3 million settlement, which led to the eventual bankruptcy and closure of their Hayden compound. Another momentous act of hate was the attempted bombing of Spokane's Martin Luther King Day Parade by Kevin Harpham of Addy, Washington in 2011. The Southern Poverty Law Center presently lists three hate groups in the Spokane and Coeur d'Alene metro areas, in the categories of anti-Muslim, Holocaust denial, and general hate. Main article: Spokane urbane region The Spokane horizon at evening from the southwest in Palisades Park The Spokane urbane region comprises of Spokane County. As of the 2013 census estimates, the Spokane urbane region had a populace of 535,724. Directly east of Spokane County is the Coeur d'Alene Metropolitan Statistical Area, which comprises of Kootenai County, Idaho, anchored by the town/city of Coeur d'Alene. The urban areas of the two MSAs largely follow the path of Interstate 90 between Spokane and Coeur d'Alene. The Spokane region has suffered from suburbanization and urban sprawl in past decades, despite Washington's use of urban expansion boundaries; the town/city ranks low among primary Northwest metros/cities in populace density and smart growth. The Spokane and Coeur d'Alene Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) are now encompassed in a single Combined Travel Destination (CSA) by the Office of Management and Budget. The Spokane Coeur d'Alene CSA had around 698,170 inhabitants in 2015. Main article: Economy of Spokane, Washington The Peyton Building in Spokane's Central Business District The Spokane Stock Exchange once occupied the Peyton Building Spokane became an meaningful rail and shipping center because of its locale between quarrying and farming areas. In the early 1880s, gold and silver were identified in the Inland Empire; as a county-wide shipping center, the town/city furnished supplies to the miners who passed through on their way to the mineral-rich Coeur d'Alene, Colville and Kootenay districts. The quarrying districts are still considered among the most productive in North America. Natural resources have historically been the foundation of Spokane's economy, with the mining, logging, and agriculture industries providing much of the region's economic activity. After quarrying declined at the turn of the 20th century, agriculture and logging replaced quarrying as the major influences in the economy. Lumberjacks and millmen working in the hundreds of mills along the barns s, rivers, and lakes of northern Washington and Idaho were provisioning themselves in Spokane. Agriculture has always been an meaningful zone in the small-town economy; the encircling area, especially to the south, is the Palouse, a productive agricultural region that supports many vineyards and microbreweries as well. By the early 20th century Spokane was primarily a commercial center clean water an industrialized center. The Old National Bank Building in Spokane's Central Business District In Spokane, wood and food processing, printing and publishing, major metal refining and fabrication, electrical and computer equipment, and transit equipment are leaders in the manufacturing sector. Gold quarrying business Gold Reserve, and Fortune 1000 business Potlatch Corporation a forest products business that operates as a real estate investment trust are headquartered in the town/city proper. Mining, forestry, and agribusiness remain meaningful to the small-town and county-wide economy, but Spokane's economy has multifarious to include other industries, including the high-tech and biotech sectors. Spokane is becoming a more service-oriented economy in the face of a less prominent manufacturing zone which declined in the 1980s, especially as a medical and biotechnology center; Fortune 1000 technology business Itron, for instance, is headquartered in the area. Avista Corporation, the holding business of Avista Utilities, is the only business in Spokane that has been listed in the Fortune 500, ranked 299 on the list in 2002. Other companies with head offices in the Spokane region include technology business Key Tronic, hotelier Red Lion Hotels Corporation, and microcar manufacturer Commuter Cars. Even with diversification to new industries, Spokane's economy has struggled in recent decades. Spokane was ranked the #1 "Worst City For Jobs" in America in both 2012 and 2015, while also ranking #4 in 2014. Additionally, Forbes titled Spokane the "Scam Capital of America" in 2009 due to widespread company fraud. As of 2013, the top five employers in Spokane are the State of Washington, Spokane Public Schools, Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital, the 92d Air Refueling Wing, and Spokane County. The biggest military facility and employer, the 92d Air Refueling Wing, is stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base near Airway Heights. The dominant industries in Spokane for the working population 16 years and older were educational services, community care, and civil assistance (26.5 percent), retail trade (12.7 percent), and arts, entertainment, recreation, and accommodation food services (10.4 percent). As the urbane center of the Inland Northwest, as well as parts of southern British Columbia and Alberta, Spokane serves as a commercial, manufacturing, transportation, medical, shopping, and entertainment hub. In 2010, the Spokane Spokane Valley MSA had a gross urbane product of $19.48 billion. As of 2014, economic evolution in the Spokane region primarily focuses on promoting the following industries: fast food, manufacturing (especially aerospace manufacturing), community sciences, experienced services, knowledge science and technology, finance and insurance as well as clean technology, and digital media. To aid economic development, the easterly branch of Innovate Washington, a state-supported company incubator was placed in the city. Panorama of Downtown Spokane looking north from the Deaconess Medical Center parking garage. Panorama of Downtown Spokane looking north from Cliff Drive. Main articles: Neighborhoods in Spokane, Washington and Downtown Spokane The American Legion Building in Spokane's Riverside neighborhood Spokane's neighborhoods range from the Victorian-style South Hill and Browne's Addition, to the Davenport District of Downtown, to the more intact neighborhoods of north Spokane. Spokane's neighborhoods are gaining consideration for their history, as illustrated by the town/city being home to 18 recognized National Register Historical Districts. The Riverside neighborhood comprises primarily of downtown Spokane and is the central company precinct of Spokane. The neighborhoods south of downtown Spokane are collectively known as the South Hill. Downtown Spokane includes many of the city's enhance facilities, including City Hall, Riverfront Park (site of Expo '74), and the Spokane Convention Center and INB Performing Arts Center, as well as the Spokane Arena and Spokane County Courthouse athwart the river in the historic West Central neighborhood. To the west of downtown is one of Spokane's earliest and most populated neighborhoods, Browne's Addition. A National Historic District west of Downtown, Browne's Addition was Spokane's first distinguished address, eminent for its array of old mansions assembled by Spokane's early elite in the Queen Anne and early American Craftsman styles. The region homes the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture. In northeast Spokane, the Hillyard neighborhood began in 1892 as the chosen site for James J. Hill's Great Northern Railway yard, placed outside Spokane town/city limits to avoid "burdensome taxes." The downtown Hillyard Business District, positioned on Market Street, was the first Spokane neighborhood listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Many of the former town's homes were assembled to home barns workers, mainly immigrant workers working in the small-town yard, who gave Hillyard an autonomous, blue-collar character. Hillyard has turn into a home for much of Spokane's burgeoning Russian, Ukrainian, and Southeast Asian communities. See also: National Register of Historic Places listings in Spokane County, Washington The Romanesque Revival style Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes in Downtown Spokane Spokane neighborhoods contain a patchwork of architectural styles that give them a diverse identification and illustrate the shifts throughout the city's history. Most of Spokane's eminent buildings and landmarks are in the Riverside neighborhood and the downtown commercial district, where many of the buildings were rebuilt following the Great Fire of 1889 in the Romanesque Revival style. Examples include the Great Northern clock tower, Review Building, Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes, First Congregational Church, Washington Water Power Post Street substation, Peyton Building, and The Carlyle. The principal architect of many buildings of this reconstructionwas Kirtland Kelsey Cutter. Self-taught, he came to Spokane in 1886 and began by designing "Chalet Hohenstein" for himself and other residences for his family while also working as a bank teller. Other structures designed by Cutter include the Spokane Club, Washington Water Power Substation, Monroe Street Bridge (featured in the town/city seal), Central Steam Plant, and the Davenport Hotel. Heylman's longterm position was most prolific amid the 1960s and 1970s where his chief body of work was done in the modernist style, designing various residentiary homes, apartment buildings, and architectural embellishments. Some of his most noteworthy works in Spokane include The Parkade, Spokane International Airport, Spokane Regional Health Building, and the Burlington Northern Latah Creek Bridge over Hangman Valley. Other well-represented architectural styles downtown include Art Deco (Spokane City Hall, Paulsen Center, Fox Theater, City Ramp Garage), Renaissance Revival (Steam Plant Square, Thomas S. Bank Building, Liberty Building, Old City Hall) and Modernist (The Parkade, Ridpath Hotel, Bank of America Financial Center). The tallest building in the city, at 288 feet (88 m), is the Bank of America Financial Center. Also of note is the Spokane County Courthouse in West Central (the building on the seal of Spokane County), the Cathedral of St. As an early well-to-do Spokane neighborhood, the Browne's Addition neighborhood and residences contain the biggest range of residentiary architecture in the city. These residences are lavish and personalized, featuring many architecture styles that were prominent and trendy in the Pacific Northwest from the late 19th century to 1930, such as the Victorian and Queen Anne styles. In high demand following his firms' design of the Idaho Building at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, Cutter found work constructing many mansions for quarrying and barns tycoons such as Patrick "Patsy" Clark and Daniel and Austin Corbin. In Hillyard, the most architecturally endured neighborhood in Spokane, 85 percent of these buildings are historic. As the town/city period mainly to the north in the middle of the 20th century, the bungalows in the "minimal traditional" style commonplace from the 1930s to the 1950s tend to predominate in the Northwest, North Hill, and Bemiss neighborhoods. This architectural style is situated in the neighborhoods where the integrity of Spokane's street grid pattern is largely endured (especially the areas north of downtown and south of Francis Ave.), and the homes have backyard alleys for carports, bringies, and refuse collection. Contemporary suburbs and architecture are prevalent at the north and south edges of Spokane as well as in the new Kendall Yards neighborhood north of downtown. In 1907, Spokane's board of park commissioners retained the services of the Olmsted Brothers to draw up a plan for Spokane's parks. Much of Spokane's park territory was acquired by the town/city before to World War I, establishing it early on as a prestige among Western metros/cities in the evolution of a citywide park system. Spokane has a fitness of over 87 parks totaling 4,100 acres (17 km2) and contains six neighborhood aquatic centers. Some of the most eminent parks in Spokane's fitness are Riverfront Park, Manito Park and Botanical Gardens, Riverside State Park, Mount Spokane State Park, Saint Michael's Mission State Park, John A. Riverfront Park, created after Expo '74 and occupying the same site, is 100 acres (40 ha) in downtown Spokane and the site of some of Spokane's biggest affairs. The park has views of the Spokane Falls and holds a number of civic attractions, including a skyride, a rebuilt gondola lift that carries visitors athwart the falls from high above the river gorge. The park also contains the historic hand-carved Riverfront Park Looff carousel created in 1909 by Charles I. Looff. Riverfront Park is presently being renovated and modernized (as of October 2016). Manito Park and Botanical Gardens on Spokane's South Hill features the Duncan Gardens, a classical European Renaissance-style garden and the Nishinomiya Japanese Garden designed by Nagao Sakurai. The Spokane region has many trails and rail trails, the most eminent of which is the Spokane River Centennial Trail, which features over 37.5 miles (60.4 km) of paved trails running along the Spokane River from Spokane to the Idaho border. This trail continues on towards Coeur d'Alene for 24 miles (39 km) as the North Idaho Centennial Trail and is often used for alternative transit and recreational use. Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park, which has trails for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, and dog sledding. The Fox Theater in Spokane's Davenport Arts District Spokane's chief art districts are positioned in the Davenport Arts District, the Garland Business District, and East Sprague. The First Friday Artwalk, which occurs the first Friday of every month, is dedicated to small-town vendors and performers displaying art around downtown. The two most meaningful Artwalk dates (the first Friday of February and October) attract large crowds to the art districts. The Davenport Arts District has the biggest concentration of art arcades and is home to many of Spokane's chief performing arts venues, including the Knitting Factory, Fox Theater, and Bing Crosby Theater. The Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox, restored to its initial 1931 Art Deco state after years of being derelict, is home to the Spokane Symphony Orchestra. The Metropolitan Performing Arts Center was restored in 1988 and retitled the Bing Crosby Theater in 2006 to honor the former Spokanite. Touring stand-up comedians are hosted by the Spokane Comedy Club. Theater is provided by Spokane's only resident experienced company, The Modern Theater, though there are also the Spokane Civic Theatre and a several other amateur improve theaters and lesser groups. Spokane was awarded the All-America City Award by the National Civic League in 1974, 2004, and 2015. Spokane offers an array of musical performances catering to a range of interests. Spokane's small-town music scene, however, is considered somewhat lacking by the Spokane All-Ages Music Initiative and other critics, who have identified a need for a legitimate all-ages venue for music performances. The Spokane Symphony presents a full season of classical music, and the Spokane Jazz Orchestra, a full season of jazz music. The Spokane Jazz Orchestra, formed in 1962, is a 70-piece orchestra and non-profit organization. There are a several exhibitions in the city, most prominently the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, positioned a several blocks from the center of downtown in Browne's Addition, amid the mansions of Spokane's late 19th-century "Age of Elegance". The Mobius Science Center and the related Mobius Kid's Museum in downtown Spokane seek to generate interest in science, technology, engineering, and math among the youth in a hands-on experience. The Jundt Art Museum at Gonzaga University features 2,800 square feet (260 m2) of exhibition space and includes sizeable collections of prints from the Bolker, Baruch, Jacobs, and Corita Kent collections. The exhibition homes glass art by Dale Chihuly, bronze sculptures by Auguste Rodin, tapestries, paintings, ceramics, photographs, and a wide range ts, including from the Iris and B. Spokane is known as the place of birth of the nationwide boss started by Sonora Smart Dodd that led to the proposal and eventual establishment of Father's Day as a nationwide holiday in the U.S. The first observation of Father's Day in Spokane was on June 19, 1910. Sonora conceived the idea in Spokane's Central Methodist Episcopal Church while listening to a Mother's Day sermon. Runners participating in Spokane's annual Lilac Bloomsday Run The Lilac Bloomsday Run, held in the spring on the first Sunday of May, is a 7.46-mile (12.01 km) race for competing runners as well as walkers that attracts global competition. Also in May is the Lilac Festival which honors the military, jubilates youth, and showcases the region. Spokane's nickname, the "Lilac City", refers to a flowering shrub that has flourished since its introduction to the region in the early 20th century. In June the town/city hosts Spokane Hoopfest, a 3-on-3 basketball tournament, among the biggest of its kind. One of Spokane's most prominent small-town events is Pig Out in the Park, an annual six-day food and entertainment festival where attendees may eat a range of foods and listen to no-charge live music concerts featuring local, regional, and nationwide recording artists in Riverfront Park. The Spokane International Film Festival, held every February, is a small, juried festival that features documentaries and shorts from around the world. The Spokane Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, held every November, features contemporary, autonomous films of interest to the GLBT community. Other eminent affairs in Spokane include the Spokane Interstate Fair, Lilac City Comicon, Japan Week, and the Spokane Pride Parade. The Spokane Interstate Fair is held annually in September at the Spokane Fair and Expo Center. Japan Week is held in April and jubilates the sister-city relationship with Nishinomiya, Hyogo, demonstrating the many commonalities shared between the two cities. Students from the Spokane ground of Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute, Gonzaga, Whitworth, and other region schools organize an array of Japanese cultural affairs. The gay and lesbian Spokane Pride Parade is held each June. There is an annual Renaissance fair and Civil War reenactment as well. Main article: Education in Spokane, Washington Serving the general educational needs of the small-town populace are two enhance library districts, the Spokane Public Library (within town/city limits) and the Spokane County Library District. Founded in 1904 with financing from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, the Spokane Public Library fitness consists a downtown library overlooking the Spokane Falls and five branch libraries. Special collections focus on Inland Pacific Northwest history and include reference books, periodicals, maps, photographs, and other archival materials and government documents. Spokane Public Schools (District 81) was ordered in 1889 and is the biggest enhance school fitness in Spokane and the second biggest in the state as of 2014, serving approximately 30,000 pupils in six high schools, six middle schools, and thirty-four elementary schools. Other enhance school districts in the Spokane region include the Mead School District in north Spokane County, outside town/city limits. They include the private universities Gonzaga and Whitworth, and the enhance Community Colleges of Spokane fitness (Spokane Community College and Spokane Falls Community College) as well as a range of technical institutes. It is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church and had 2,500 pupils studying in 53 different undergraduate and degree programs as of 2011. While Spokane is one of the larger metros/cities in the U.S. To lack a chief campus of a state-supported college inside its town/city limits, Eastern Washington University (EWU) and Washington State University (WSU) have operations at the Riverpoint Campus in the University District, just contiguous to downtown and athwart the Spokane River from the Gonzaga campus. Washington State University Spokane is WSU's community sciences ground and homes the school's College of Nursing, College of Pharmacy, and Elson S. In addition to WSU's community science existence in Spokane, there is also a four-year medical school branch affiliated with the University of Washington's WWAMI program. An global branch ground of the Mukogawa Women's University, the Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute, is positioned in Spokane. Main article: Sports in Spokane, Washington The Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena Spokane is close to dozens of lakes and rivers for outside sports and recreation. Nearby mountain peaks furnish for skiing, hiking, biking and sightseeing. Spokane's experienced and semi-professional sports squads include the Spokane Indians in Minor League Baseball, Spokane Empire in indoor football, and Spokane Chiefs in junior ice hockey. Collegiate sports in Spokane focus on the small-town squads such as the Gonzaga Bulldogs that compete in the NCAA's Division I West Coast Conference and the Whitworth Pirates playing in the Division III Northwest Conference as well as other county-wide teams, including the Washington State Cougars, Eastern Washington Eagles, and the Idaho Vandals. The Spokane Indians are a Class-A-Short-Season baseball team in the Northwest League (NWL) and have been a farm team of the Texas Rangers since 2003. The Indians play their home games at the 6,803-seat Avista Stadium and have won seven NWL titles since their Short-Season-A debut in 1982. Prior to 1982, the Indians played at the Triple-A level. The team accomplished considerable success in the early 1970s, winning the Pacific Coast League championship in 1970, and having a 94 52 record. In the 1920s and 1930s the Spokane City League, a semiprofessional baseball league of squads of the Inland Empire, reached its peak. The Spokane Empire is an indoor football charter that competes in the Indoor Football League that has a county-wide rivalry with the Tri-Cities Fever. The city's first indoor football franchise, the Spokane Shock of the Arena Football League went defunct when the AFL decided to retain the rights to the Shock charter after they requested a departure and move from the AFL to the IFL, necessitating the naming of a new charter beginning with the 2016 season. The Spokane Chiefs are a junior ice hockey team that play in the Canadian Hockey League's Western Hockey League. They play their home games in the Spokane Arena and have a county-wide rivalry with the Tri-City Americans. The Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena is the city's premier sports venue. In the years since the Spokane Arena opened, it has played host to a several major sporting affairs. Figure Skating Championships in the Spokane Arena. The latter event set an attendance record, selling almost 155,000 tickets. Spokane later hosted the 2010 U.S. Overlooking Spokane from Sunset Hill. Spokane's streets use a street grid that is oriented to the four cardinal directions; generally, the east west roads are designated as avenues, and the north south roads are alluded to as streets. Division Street divides the town/city into East and West, while Sprague Avenue splits the town/city into North and South. Division Street is Spokane's primary retail corridor; Sprague Avenue serves the same purpose in Spokane Valley. With over 40,000 vehicles per day in average everyday traffic from Interstate 90 north to the US 2 US 395 junction, North Division is Spokane's busiest corridor. Spokane has an average Walk Score of 47.6, indicating most errands require a car, and an average Bike Score of 48.6. The extensive skywalk fitness covers thirteen blocks in the downtown region and is among the biggest in the United States; it is used for pedestrian travel in cold and inclement weather and retail space as well. The STA bus plaza in Downtown Spokane The STA Plaza in Downtown Spokane Before the influx of automobiles, Spokane's electric streetcar and interurban lines played a dominant part in moving citizens and goods around Spokane. Streetcars were installed as early as 1888, when they were pulled by horses. Many older side streets in Spokane still have visible streetcar rails embedded in them. Streetcar service was reduced due to declining ridership beginning in 1922, and by August 1936, all lines had been abandoned or converted to motor buses. Mass transit throughout the Spokane region is provided by the Spokane Transit Authority (STA), which operates a fleet of 156 buses. Its service region covers approximately 248 square miles (640 km2) and reaches 85 percent of the county's population. A large percentage of STA bus routes originate from the central hub, the STA Plaza in downtown Spokane. Spokane has a Transit Score of 35.4 on Walk Score. Spokane has rail and bus service provided by Amtrak and Greyhound via the Spokane Intermodal Center. The town/city is a stop for Amtrak's Empire Builder on its way to and from Chicago's Union Station en route to Seattle and Portland. Amtrak's through service to Seattle and Portland is a impact of BNSF Railway's old Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway trackage. Spokane is a primary stockyards junction for the BNSF Railway and the Union Pacific Railroad and is the end for the Montana Rail Link. I-90 descending Sunset Hill into Spokane Interstate 90 runs east west from Seattle, through downtown Spokane, and eastward through Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake, and forward to Coeur d'Alene and then Missoula. Although they are not limited access highways like I-90 I-90 (big).svg, US 2 US 2.svg and US 395 US 395.svg enter Spokane from the west via I-90 and continue north through Spokane via Division St. US 195 US 195.svg, also known as the Inland Empire Highway, joins to Interstate 90 west of Spokane near Latah Creek and travels south through the Palouse. The WSDOT is constructing the North Spokane Corridor. When completed, the corridor will be a 10.5-mile-long (16.9 km) limited-access highway that will run from I-90, in the vicinity of the Thor/Freya interchange, northward through Spokane, meeting the existing US 395 just south of the Wandermere Golf Course. Outside view of Concourse C, Spokane Airport Spokane International Airport (IATA: GEG, ICAO: KGEG) serves as the major commercial airport for Spokane, Eastern Washington, and Northern Idaho. It is the second biggest airport in the state of Washington and is recognized by the Federal Aviation Administration as a small hub, with service from six airlines and two air cargo carriers. The 4,800-acre (19.42 km2) airport is positioned 5 miles (8.0 km) west of downtown Spokane and is roughly a 10-minute drive away. Felts Field is a general aviation airport serving the Spokane region and is positioned in east Spokane along the south bank of the Spokane River. Aviation at Felts Field dates back to 1913 and the strip served as Spokane's major airport until commercial air traffic was redirected to Geiger Field after World War II. In 1927, the strip was one of the first in the U.S. Deaconess Medical Center in Spokane's "Medical District" on the lower South Hill The Spokane region has six primary hospitals, four of which are full-service facilities. The healthcare trade is a large and increasingly meaningful industry in Spokane; the town/city provides specialized care to many patients from the encircling Inland Northwest and as far north as the Canada US border. The city's healthcare needs are served primarily by non-profit Seattle-based Providence Health & Services and for-profit Tennessee-based Community Health Systems, which run the two biggest hospitals, Sacred Heart Medical Center, and Deaconess Medical Center, in the order given. These two hospitals, along with most of Spokane's primary community care facilities, are positioned on Spokane's Lower-South Hill, just south of downtown, in what is known as the "Medical District" of Spokane. The Sacred Heart Hospital, opened originally, with just 31 beds, on Spokane Falls Boulevard on January 27, 1887, but later moved to its present locale at 101 West Eighth Avenue. As of 2014 it had 642 beds, with 28,319 admissions, 71,543 emergency room visits, and 2,982 births annually, and a full-time staff of 29 doctors and dentists and 583 registered nurses. Deaconess Medical Center, the lesser of the two chief hospitals, had 388 beds as of 2014. Other hospitals in the region include the Spokane Veterans Affairs Medical Center in the northwest part of town, Holy Family Hospital on the north side, and Valley Hospital and Medical Center in the Spokane Valley. The Monroe Street Dam falls on the Spokane River The City of Spokane provides municipal water, wastewater management, and solid waste management. Spokane operates Washington's only waste-to-energy plant as well as two solid waste transfer stations as part of the Spokane Regional Solid Waste System, a collaboration between the City of Spokane and Spokane County. Electricity generated by the waste-to-energy plant is used to operate the facility, with excess energy being sold to Puget Sound Energy. Spokane draws its water from the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer; this 370-square-mile (958 km2) "sole origin aquifer" is the only waterworks for Spokane County in Washington, and for Kootenai and Bonner counties in Idaho. Serving over 500,000 citizens , the aquifer is prestigious in being one of the biggest aquifers in the nation at 10 trillion gallons, as well as having one of the quickest flow rates in the nation at 60 feet (18 m) per day, and for its purity. Spokane hosts three hydroelectric generation facilities on the Spokane River: the Upriver Dam, the Upper Falls Dam, and the Monroe Street Dam. The Upriver Dam is owned and directed by the City of Spokane, and generates the electricity needed to operate the municipal waterworks's pressure pumps. The power generated in excess of that is sold to Avista Utilities. The Upper Falls and Monroe Street dams are owned and directed by Avista Utilities, and have respective generation capacities of 10 and 15 MW. See also: Category:Media in Spokane, Washington Newspaper service in Spokane is provided by its only primary everyday newspaper, The Spokesman-Review, which has a everyday circulation of 76,291 and Sunday circulation of 95,939. The Spokesman-Review was formed from the consolidation of the Spokane Falls Review (1883 1894) and the Spokesman (1890 1893) in 1893 and was first presented under the present name on June 29, 1894. It later combined the competing afternoon paper The Spokane Daily Chronicle, a momentous journal that existed from 1890 until the consolidation in 1982. More specialized publications include the weekly alternative journal The Pacific Northwest Inlander, the bi-weekly company journal The Spokane Journal of Business, the pupil-run The Gonzaga Bulletin, the monthly GLBT newsmagazine Q View Northwest, and a monthly journal for parents, Kids newspaper. The town/city also has a several improve magazines, such as the monthly paper covering the Garland neighborhood, The Garland Times, and Spokane Coeur d'Alene Living, a monthly home and lifestyle magazine. According to Arbitron, Spokane is the 94th biggest radio market in the U.S., with 532,100 listeners aged 12 and over. There are 28 AM and FM airways broadcasts broadcast in the city. The five most listened-to stations are KKZX-FM (classic rock), KQNT-AM (news/talk), KXLY-FM (country), KISC-FM (adult contemporary), and KZZU-FM (Hot AC). Spokane's major sources of non-commercial and improve radio include Spokane's NPR-affiliate station KPBX-FM and KYRS, a full-power improve airways broadcast. Spokane is the 73rd biggest tv market in the U.S., accounting for 0.366% of the total TV homeholds in the U.S. The town/city has six tv stations, representing the primary commercial networks and enhance television. Spokane is the tv broadcast center for much of easterly Washington (except the Yakima and Tri-Cities area), northern Idaho, northwestern Montana, northeastern Oregon, and parts of southern Canada (by cable television). The primary network tv affiliates include KREM (TV) 2 (CBS), KXLY-TV 4 (ABC), KHQ-TV 6 (NBC; Spokane's first tv station, on air on December 20, 1952), KAYU 28 (FOX), KSKN 22 (The CW), KSPS-TV 7 (PBS), and KCDT-TV 26 (PBS; operating out of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho). Main article: List of citizens from Spokane, Washington Spokane has six current sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International: Japan Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan since September 1961 (Spokane's first sister city) ^ The name is said to derive from Spukcane, the vocalization of a sound made by a snake which the Chief of the Spokanes came to call "power from the brain" after pondering it made his head vibrate. ^ Unbeknownst to them, the Spokane Valley was the only region inside 200 miles that could furnish passage to the Inland Empire through the Rockies at a reasonable grade. ^ The present name, set forth by an 1891 charter reincorporated the town/city under the name "Spokane Falls", stating: "The corporate name of the town/city is Spokane Falls, and by that name shall have perpetual succession" (Charter, Article I). ^ Secretary of the Spokane chamber of commerce, John R. Reavis tells of Spokane's significance to the Inland Northwest region as a distributing center (largely the city's raison d' tre) in his 1891 Annual Report, writing: "By reason of her geographical position and barns connections Spokane is fitted as no other town/city is, or ever can be, to be the distributing center of all that nation inside a radius of 150 miles, and in some instances territory much farther away. There is no point 150 miles from Spokane that is not at least 225 miles from any other town/city of 10,000 population. Never was a town/city more intimately knit to its encircling territory than Spokane, and never was one more no-charge from a legitimate rival in trade ..." In 1906, Spokane sued under the newly passed Hepburn Act, and won on July 24, 1911. "The North West Company establishes Spokane House in 1810". Scranton file claims and build a sawmill at Spokane Falls in May 1871". Army establishes Fort Spokane at the junction of the Spokane and Columbia rivers in 1882". "First train arrives at Spokane Falls on June 25, 1881". "Spokane Falls (later retitled Spokane) is incorporated as a first-class town/city on November 29, 1881". According to the Spokane Falls Review December 1, 1883 edition. "Great Spokane Fire destroys downtown Spokane Falls on August 4, 1889". "Spokane Neighborhoods: Hillyard Thumbnail History". "Spokane, Gateway City: Metropolis of the Inland Empire". "IWW formally begins Spokane free-speech fight on November 2, 1909". "Preserving state's heritage: Why Spokane is central". "Expo 74 Spokane World's Fair opens on May 4, 1974". "Spokane Thumbnail History". "Restored Fox Theater in Spokane reopens as the Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox in a gala concert on November 17, 2007". "WSU Spokane prepares to open pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences building". City of Spokane. "NWS Spokane, WA". "Station Information Data Sheet Spokane, Washington". Glacial Lake Missoula and the Spokane Floods (PDF) (Report). "Ponderosa pine titled Spokane's official town/city tree". "Wolf on Mount Spokane? a b c "Average Weather for Spokane, WA". "WA Spokane INTL AP". "SPOKANE, WASHINGTON (457933)". City of Spokane. "It's now Spokane Mayor-Elect Condon". "Armed Cheney people forcibly remove the governmental center of county from Spokane Falls to Cheney on March 21, 1881". "Spokane County Elections: November 6, 2012 General Election". "Crime rates for Spokane, WA". "Spokane Police Department to open two new precincts". Temple Beth Shalom ("almost 200 member families"), Congregation Emanu-El, Chabad of Spokane County. Diocese of Spokane. "Spokane Washington Temple". "Spokane Is New Refugee Magnet For Ex-Soviets Washington State Among The Country's Most Popular Destinations For Newcomers". "City in easterly Washington state has turn into home to many Russians and Ukrainians". "Spokane Neighborhoods: Old Chinatown Trent Alley Thumbnail History". "Spokane's Japanese Community". "Spokane, Coeur d'Alene now one statistical region". "Spokane County Profile" (PDF). 1 worst metro region for jobs this fall: Spokane, Wash. 4 Worst City For Jobs This Fall (tie): Spokane, Washington In Photos: The Best And Worst Cities For Jobs This Fall". "The Merry Scamsters of Spokane Strike Again!". "Spokane: Hub of the Inland Northwest" (PDF). Spokane Area Workforce Development Council. "Thousands of Preservationists Will Gather in Spokane, Washington to Discuss the Power of Preservation to Create Jobs, Enrich Communities and Drive Social Change". "WASHINGTON Spokane County". "Historic Districts of Spokane: Browne's Addition Historic District". City County of Spokane Historic Preservation Office. "Spokane Board of Park Commissioners begins its duties on June 1, 1907". City of Spokane Parks & Recreation. City of Spokane Parks & Recreation. "Expo '74: Spokane World's Fair". "Mount Spokane State Park". Downtown Spokane Partnership. "Spokane Comedy Club". Spokane Comedy Club. "Spokane All-Ages Music Initiative (SAAMI)". "Father's Day is conceived by Spokane's Sonora Smart Dodd and jubilated for the first time in Spokane on June 19, 1910.". Spokane Hoopfest Association. "Spokane International Film Festival". Spokane International Film Festival. "Spokane's GLBT Film Festival". Spokane Film Festival. "Spokane Interstate Fair". Japan Week Spokane. "The Spokane Renaissance Faire". The Spokane Renaissance Faire. Spokane Public Library. Spokane Public Library. "Spokane: Early Education". Spokane Public Schools. Catholic Diocese of Spokane. Experience Spokane. "AFL Issues Statement on Spokane Shock". "Spokane Chiefs win Memorial Cup". "Spokane, Wash., Selected to Host 2010 U.S. "Spokane lands another primary skating event: Team Challenge Cup". City of Spokane. "City of Spokane Traffic Flow Map" (PDF). City of Spokane. "Spokane's Streetcars". Spokane Transit. "Amtrak Stations Spokane, WA (SPK)". "Hot Spots: Spokane, Wash.". "North Spokane Corridor Quick Facts". "Spokane International" (PDF). "Providence, CHS have split Spokane's community care system". "WSU Spokane starts work on master-plan update". Spokane Journal of Business. "The Spokane Regional Solid Waste System". Spokane Regional Solid Waste System. "Compilation of Information for Spokane Valley Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer, Washington and Idaho". "The Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer Atlas" (PDF). City of Spokane. "Spokane River Dams". "About Spokane everyday chronicle. "Spokane Journal of Business". "Spokane Coeur d'Alene Living". "#94 Spokane: Summer P2 Arbitrends". "Spokane Public Radio". Spokane Public Radio. "Spokane, Washington". Spokane, Washington (1896). Charter of the town/city of Spokane, Washington: allowed by the citizens at an election held March 24, 1891, attested and went into effect April 4, 1891 (including amendments). Spokane, Washington: W.D. First Annual Report of the Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce of Spokane for the Year 1891. Spokane, Washington: W.D. History of the town/city of Spokane and Spokane Country, Washington: from its earliest settlement to the present time. News for an Empire: The Story of the Spokesman Review of Spokane, Washington and of the Field It Serves. "Inland Empire Mining and the Growth of Spokane, 1883 1905" (PDF). "Spokane: The First Decade" (PDF). Early Spokane. Spokane: The City and The People. "The Changing Spokane River Watershed". Spokane and the Inland Empire: An Interior Pacific Northwest Anthology. African Americans in Spokane. Spokane Our Early History Under All is the Land. Spokane, Washington: Tornado Creek Publications. Illustrated history of Spokane county (DJVU). Spokane, Washington: W.H. "Spokane and the Inland Empire". Spokane, Washington: Shaw & Borden. Sounding Spokane: perspectives on the assembled surrounding of a county-wide city. Spokane, Washington: Eastern Washington University Press. The Fair and the Falls: Spokane Expo '74: Transforming an American surrounding. Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Spokane. Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclop dia Britannica article Spokane. Visit Spokane Greater Spokane Incorporated, Chamber of commerce City County of Spokane Historic Preservation Office Spokane Historical, A enhance history universal at Eastern Washington University Spokane, Washington at DMOZ City of Spokane Municipalities and communities of Spokane County, Washington, United States Categories: Spokane, Washington - Cities in Spokane County, Washington - Cities in Washington (state)County seats in Washington (state)Hudson's Bay Company trading posts - Populated places established in 1871 - Superfund sites in Washington (state)1871 establishments in Washington Territory - Ukrainian communities in the United States