Then and Now: Morris Block

The Morris Block was built on the northeast corner of Sprague Avenue and Post Street in 1890, in the wake of Spokane’s fire of 1889. The Great Eastern building, above left, was built in 1890 for the Great Eastern Dry Goods Company. In January 1898, the Great Eastern caught fire and was gutted. Colonel Isaac Peyton, who was probably only a lieutenant during the Civil War, bought the burned building and had Kirtland Cutter and Karl Malmgren rebuild it as the Peyton Building. In 1908, Peyton hired a contractor to add two stories to his building, tear down the Morris Block and build the seven-story Peyton Annex. The Peyton Block, with 84,000 square feet of space, was among the most exclusive office space in Spokane. –Jesse Tinsley