100 years ago in Spokane: The search for a spot to house unwed mothers was so challenging that the home was simply going to be rebuilt at its former site

The board of the Florence Crittenton Home (for unwed mothers) found a building site where the neighbors wouldn’t complain: on the grounds of the old home, recently destroyed by fire, on North Crescent Avenue.

The board’s plans to purchase a large building in the Cannon Hill Neighborhood were scuttled when neighbors vehemently protested, some on moral grounds.

The board decided it would be easier to build a “strictly modern home” on the ruins of the old site. The foundation was still intact, and some of the old material could be salvaged. The board also planned to use a property on Indiana Avenue as a temporary home during construction.

From the fire beat: A fire blazed on the roof of St. Joseph’s School, a Catholic school on West Dean Avenue – but fortunately, it was a Saturday and no children were there.

The fire was apparently ignited by sparks on the roof, and was reported by Sister De Notre Dame, one of five nuns living in the building. She saw the flames when she and the other sisters returned from services at the neighboring church.

Most of the damage was confined to the roof and attic, and repairs were planned.

From the accident beat: Carl J. Smith, an employee of the Spokane Hotel, died when he fell four stories down the freight elevator shaft.

He was fetching aprons for the cooks when he “apparently lost his balance and plunged down the open shaft.”

Also on this day

(From onthisday.com)

1956: “Heartbreak Hotel” becomes Elvis Presley’s first Billboard’s Top 10 hit.