Spokane ghost signs

Ghost Signs of Spokane -- the remnants of old ads, painted on buildings mostly downtown.

Section:Gallery

Wed., Nov. 27, 2019

Cigars are advertised in downtown Spokane on the side of the old building, shown Monday, Nov. 21, 2019. Such advertisements, called “ghost signs”, harken back to early Spokane.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
The Longbotham building, formerly the Frederick Hotel, in downtown Spokane carries a number of old advertisements, shown Monday, Nov. 21, 2019. Such advertisements, called “ghost signs”, harken back to early Spokane.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
Customers line up for coffee and food inside Boots Bakery where one wall shows a giant cow painted on the wall as part of an advertisement for Bull Durham tobacco, shown Monday, Nov. 21, 2019. Such advertisements, called “ghost signs”, harken back to early Spokane.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
A ghost sign for Pioneer Ford is still visible on the building that is now part of the Joel Building, which is at 165 S Post in downtown Spokane, shown Monday, Nov. 25, 2019.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
Ghost signs for cigars and the Hotel Division are still visible on the side of the building on the souteast corner of Main Avenue and Division Street, shown Monday, Nov. 25, 2019.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
The 1909 Division Hotel building at Main and Division in downtown Spokane carries a number of old advertisements, including one for the hotel itself and for cigars, shown Monday, Nov. 21, 2019. Such advertisements, called “ghost signs”, harken back to early Spokane.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
A ghost sign for J&D Paints is still visible on the side of the building at 1724 W. Broadway Ave., shown Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2019.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
The Saranac building at 25 West Main Ave. in downtown Spokane still has the painted roofline sign which drew travelers to the hotel more than a century ago, shown Monday, Nov. 25, 2019.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
Ghost sign for Pioneer Ford is still visible on the building that is now part of the Joel Building, which is at 165 S Post in downtown Spokane, shown Monday, Nov. 25, 2019.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
The building housing Main Street Antiques still has a painted sign from the days when it was the House of Charity, the Catholic Charities men’s shelter at 7 West Main Ave. in Spokane.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
A ghost sign for Jensen King Byrd Hardware is barely visible on the rear of the building that still houses some operations of the current company Jensen Distribution Services at 320 W. Riverside Ave. in Spokane, shown Monday, November 25, 2019.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
A ghost sign for Rasher and Kingman is visible on the side of an old warehouse just off Lincoln Street next to the railroad viaduct in downtown Spokane, shown Monday, Nov. 25, 2019.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
Ghost signs are still visible on the side of the Community Building on the souteast corner of Main Avenue and Division Street, shown Monday, Nov. 25, 2019.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
A ghost sign for Coke is still visible on the side of the Community Building on Main Avenue, shown Monday, Nov. 25, 2019.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
The hotel name is a ghost sign on the old Hotel Carlyle at Second Avenue and Post Street in Spokane, shown Monday, Nov. 25, 2019.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
Many layers of ghost signs are still visible on the side of what is now called the Cracker Building West Pacific Street in downtown Spokane, shown Monday, Nov. 25, 2019.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
Ghost sign Blair Business College is still visible on the back of the Madison building in downtown Spokane, shown Monday, Nov. 25, 2019.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
The Longbotham building, formerly the Frederick Hotel, in downtown Spokane carries a number of old advertisements, including one for smoking tobacco, shown Monday, Nov. 21, 2019. Such advertisements, called “ghost signs”, harken back to early Spokane.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
The Globe Hotel in downtown Spokane still advertises 75-cent rooms with hot and cold water on the east face of the old building, shown Monday, Nov. 21, 2019. Such advertisements, called “ghost signs”, harken back to early Spokane.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
Ghost sign for “cold storage” is still visible on the front of the former Fairmont Creamery building on the West Pacific Avenue in Spokane, shown Monday, Nov. 25, 2019.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review