History for Chron

Spokane enjoyed a banner year for construction in 1959, with projects built with a total value of about $27.1 million.

With some 3,418 building permits issues, it was the best year for construction since 1956, but it did not surpass the record year of 1954 when 5,661 permits were issued for projects valued at about $40.7 million.

Of the building permits for 1959, some 543 were for new homes, according to the city building inspector’s office.

A four-engine DC-6B crashed en route to Florida and killed all 34 persons on board, including a retired Navy Admiral who commanded aircraft carriers in World War II. The National Airlines plane took off from New York to Miami crashed near Bolivia, North Carolina. On board was retired Vice Adm. Edward Orrick McDonnell, who received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his service in the war.

“We heard and engine going chug-a-chug,” said Richard Randolph, who owned the farm where the plane crashed. “Then it sounded like tin windows and doors ripping off. Then there was a big boom like dynamite.”