City Hall
The City Hall erected in 1893 where Howard St. and Front St. (now Spokane Falls Blvd.) meet symbolized the optimism of a plains boomtown, and then fell victim to Spokane's success.
Section:Then & Now
Image One
Courtesy of the Northwest Room, Spokane Public Library
Image Two
Jesse Tinsley
| The Spokesman-Review
The City Hall erected in 1893 where Howard St. and Front St. (now Spokane Falls Blvd.) meet symbolized the optimism of a plains boomtown, and then fell victim to Spokane's success. It cost $165,000 to erect the elegant brick structure on the former site of a 1870s hotel that had been damaged by fire. Spokane, as a regional center of industry, commerce and banking, would eventually be home to several grand buildings, including the Spokane County Courthouse, the Review Tower and the Auditorium building. In 1909, Union Pacific Railroad purchased the building from the city to make way for new tracks near the river. The city hurriedly put up a new, but more modest, building on the southwest corner of Wall St. and Front St. and the offices moved in April of 1913. The tracks were laid and Union Station was built nearby. All of that was vacated in 1973 to make way for the world’s fair, Expo ’74.
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