The historic Davenport Hotel - A collection of content from The Spokesman-Review

Mission accomplished, Friends of the Davenport Hotel disband

By John Webster
The Spokesman-Review

Terry Novak’s phone jangled. Frank Bartel, business editor of The Spokesman-Review, got right to the point. Sources had told him Spokane’s historic Davenport Hotel – closed, shabby, burdened with debt, its glory gone – was going to be demolished. “Sheri!” As soon as he ended the call the Spokane city manager stood up from his desk and called to a blonde woman seated nearby. “Sheri, Frank Bartel says the Davenport’s owners want to tear it down.”

Gallery: Davenport Hotel historical photos

The Davenport Hotel opened in September 1914. It was the culmination of many years of planning by restaurateur Louis Davenport.

Gallery: The Davenport Hotel, present day

The historic Davenport Hotel in downtown Spokane, Wash., was designed by architect Kirtland Cutter and open in 1914. The hotel is named after Louis Davenport, it first first owner and overseer of the project.

Dorothy Powers: Reopened Davenport taught Spokane to dream again

By Dorothy Rochon Powers
For the Spokesman-Review

(This article was written in July 2002.)

Nobody can take away a dream and nobody did.

Rather, for 17 years, lots of us nurtured and guarded a mutual dream and fed it with hope.

The object of that dream – a gloriously refurbished Davenport Hotel – now turns the tables on us and bequeaths us the gift of a civic lifetime.

It is this: Spirit.

Dorothy Powers: All who met life’s joys at the Davenport Hotel mourned its closure

By Dorothy Rochon Powers
For the Spokesman-Review

(This article first appeared on June 27, 1985.)

This column is not for the “greats.”

It’s not for the presidents, statesmen, entertainers and heads of foreign governments who have stayed at the world-famous Davenport Hotel in downtown Spokane.

Rather, it’s for those of us here in Spokane who have lived with the grande dame of our hotels all these years and who will feel nostalgic sadness when her heart stops this weekend.

1914 technology: ice, electricity, telephones, porcelain tubs

When the Davenport Hotel opened on August 30, 1914, a 10-page section of The Spokesman-Review trumpeted the new building’s marvels. Headlines and opening paragraphs included these: “Hotel to make its ice. Complete and unique refrigerator system ... Five tons of ice a day.” “The Davenport hotel ice-making, water-cooling and refrigerating plant demonstrates one of the most complete and unique systems of its kind in the hotel service of the United States.”

ESPN anchors often surprise the Davenport with free advertising

By John Webster
The Spokesman-Review

Whenever ESPN broadcasts a Gonzaga basketball game, the Davenport Hotel’s marketing director fires up his DVR. Because Matt Jensen can just about count on some gratis gratitude from the network’s on-air personalities.

Davenport: Then and Now

Davenport Hotel: Hall of Doges

The Hall of Doges was designed to emulate the elegance of Doge’s palace in Venice, Italy. Diners were transported into the world of Renaissance art and gilded scroll work. Developer Walt Worthy preserved the hall by crating it whole and removing it during the hotel’s refitting, then replacing it in 2001. Today it is a dining and meeting area outside the Grand Pennington ballroom.

Davenport Hotel: Pfister Bowling and Billiards

The Pfister Bowling and Billiards sat next to Louis Davenport’s restaurant on Sprague Ave. before the construction of the Davenport Hotel.

Davenport's Restaurant

People gather around Davenport’s Restaurant, hoping for a glimpse of the visiting celebrity during President Taft’s visit to Spokane Sept. 28, 1909. The Davenport hotel was not yet built. Picture looks west on Sprague.

Davenport Hotel timeline

103 years after it opened, here's a look at the history of downtown Spokane's Davenport Hotel, hitting on years with major developments along the way that impacted the rise, fall and eventual re-emergence of the iconic business structure.