This day in history: Jimmie Durkin, former saloon owner, bought more downtown property

From 1975: Job prospects in Spokane for 1975 were “rather discouraging,” officials said.

Spokane was already experiencing near-record levels of unemployment – currently at 7.8% . The prospects for the next two years were only slightly better. In the short term, unemployment was expected to ease somewhat with the arrival of spring, which would open up some construction and farm jobs.

Some federal help was on the way, according to a separate article in The Spokesman-Review. The city announced an increase of $504,344 in federal funding for local job training programs.

From 1925: “Jimmie” Durkin, colorful Spokane saloon man, purchased a three-story building at 117 N. Howard St., adjoining a two-story building he already owned. This gave home a 50-foot frontage on Howard Street.

When asked what he intended to use it for, Durkin was coy.

“You ask me what I am going to do with it? I ask you to have the same patience I had in acquiring it, and if you ask me the same question 21 years from now, I will give you a truthful answer, if I answer it,” Durkin said.

Before the arrival of statewide prohibition, Durkin had used his existing property for a saloon.

The current business at 117 N. Howard St. is Soulful Soups.

Also on this day

(From onthisday.com)

1836: Showman P.T. Barnum exhibits African American slave Joice Heth, claiming she was the 161-year-old nursemaid to George Washington.