Then and Now photos: View from the Tower

1926: Slow-moving electric streetcars, clattering Ford Model Ts and crowds of shoppers bundled against the cold. 2012: Quiet front-wheel-drive autos, hybrid diesel-electric transit buses and pedestrians intent on their cellphones and MP3 players. The Review Tower, the 1891 landmark at the corner of Monroe Street and Riverside Avenue, has served as a photo perch for Spokesman-Review photographers for more than a century. Nine floors above the sidewalk, it’s a bird’s-eye view of life in downtown Spokane and its impressive edifices of banking, insurance and commerce, including the downtown post office, the Exchange Building, Old National Bank, Traders National Bank, the Peyton Building and the Great Western Building. The modern panorama includes the Lincoln Building, the 20-story Bank of America center and the Spokane Transit Authority Plaza. - Jesse Tinsley