Spokane, Washington

The first humans to live in the Spokane area were hunter-gatherers that lived off plentiful fish and game; early human remains have been dated to 8,000 to 13,000 years ago. The Spokane tribe, after which the city is named (the name meaning "children of the sun" or "sun people" in Salishan), are believed to be either their direct descendants, or descendants of people from the Great Plains. When asked by early white explorers, the Spokanes said their ancestors came from "up North." These were the first white men met by the Spokanes, who believed they were sacred, and set the trappers up in the Colville River valley for the winter. Trading post The explorer-geographer David Thompson, working as head of the North West Company's Columbia Department, became the first European to explore the Inland Empire (now called the Inland Northwest). Crossing what is now the Canada–US border from British Columbia, Thompson wanted to expand the North West Company further south in search of furs. After establishing the Kullyspell House and Saleesh House trading posts in what are now Idaho and Montana, Thompson then attempted to expand further west. He sent out two trappers, Jacques Raphael Finlay and Finan McDonald, to construct a fur trading post on the Spokane River, which flows west from Lake Coeur d'Alene to the Columbia River, and trade with the local Indians. This post was established in 1810, at the confluence of the Little Spokane and Spokane rivers, becoming the first enduring European settlement of significance in what later became Washington state. in 1888 In 1836, Reverend Samuel Parker visited the area and reported that around 800 Native Americans were living in Spokane Falls. A medical mission was established by Marcus and Narcissa Whitman to cater for Cayuse Indians and hikers of the Oregon Trail at Walla Walla in the south. After the Whitmans were killed by Indians in 1847, Reverend Cushing Eells established Whitman College in their memory, also setting up the first church in the Spokane area. After the last campaign of the Yakima Indian War, the Coeur d'Alene War of 1858 was brought to a close by the actions of Col. George Wright, who won decisive victories against a confederation of tribes in engagements at the battles of Four Lakes and Spokane Plains. The cessation of hostilities opened the inter-mountain valley of the Pacific Northwest to colonial expansion and safe habitation by settlers. American settlement Joint American–British occupation of Oregon Country, in effect since the Treaty of 1818, eventually led to the Oregon Boundary Dispute after a large influx of American settlers along the Oregon Trail. Great Britain ceded its claims to lands in Puget Sound and the central and lower Columbia Basin by the Oregon Treaty of 1846. The Hudson's Bay Company wound up its operations in the area over the next few years. In what is now Spokane, the first American settlers were J.J. Downing and S.R. Scranton, cattle ranchers who squatted and established a claim at Spokane Falls in 1871. Together they built a small sawmill on a claim near the south bank of the falls. James N. Glover and Jasper Matheney, Oregonians passing through the region in 1873, recognized the value of the Spokane River and its falls for the purpose of water power. Glover and Matheney knew that the Northern Pacific Railroad Company had received a government charter to build a main line across this northern route. Glover confidently held on to his claim and became a successful Spokane business owner and the city's second mayor. He later came to be known as the "Father of Spokane". In 1880, Fort Spokane was established by U.S. Army troops under Lt. Col. Henry C. Merriam northwest of Spokane, at the junction of the Columbia and Spokane Rivers, to protect the construction of the Northern Pacific Railway and secure a place for U.S. settlement. By June 30, 1881, the railway reached the city, bringing major European settlement to the area. The city was officially incorporated with a population of about 1,000 residents on November 29, 1881. When Spokane was officially incorporated in 1881, Robert W. Forrest was elected as the first mayor of the city, with a Council of seven, S.G. Havermale, A.M. Cannon, Dr. L.H. Whitehouse, L.W. Rima, F.R. Moore, George A. Davis, and W.C. Gray, all serving without pay. The 1883 discovery of gold, silver, and lead in the Coeur d'Alene region of northern Idaho lured prospectors. Mining and smelting emerged as a major stimulus to Spokane. At the onset of the initial 1883 gold rush in the nearby Coeur d'Alene mining district, Spokane became popular with prospectors, offering low prices on everything "from a horse to a frying pan". It would keep this status for subsequent rushes in the region due to its trade center status and accessibility to railroad infrastructure. Spokane's growth continued unabated until August 4, 1889, when a fire, now known as The Great Fire (not to be confused with the Great Fire of 1910, which happened nearby), began just after 6:00 p.m., and destroyed the city's downtown commercial district. Due to technical problems with a pump station, there was no water pressure in the city when the fire started. In a desperate bid to starve the fire, firefighters began razing buildings with dynamite. Eventually, the winds and the fire died down; 32 blocks of Spokane's downtown core had been destroyed and one person was killed. Yet the rebuilding and development of the city was far from smooth: between 1889 and 1896 alone, all six bridges over the Spokane River were destroyed by floods before their completion. Just three years after the fire, in 1892, James J. Hill's Great Northern Railway arrived in the chosen site for Hill's rail yards, the newly created township of Hillyard (annexed by Spokane in 1924). Spokane became an important rail shipping and transportation hub for the Inland Empire, connecting mines in the Silver Valley with agricultural areas around the Palouse region. The city's population ballooned to 19,922 in 1890, and to 36,848 in 1900 with the arrival of additional railroads. By 1910 the population had hit 104,000, and Spokane eclipsed Walla Walla as the commercial center of the Inland Empire. In time the city came to be known as the "capital" of the Inland Empire and the heart of a vast tributary region. After the arrival of the Northern Pacific, Union Pacific, Great Northern, and Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific railroads, Spokane became one of the most important rail centers in the western U.S. Early 20th century , 1911 Expansion abruptly stopped in the 1910s and was followed by a period of population decline, due in large part to Spokane's slowing economy. Control of regional mines and resources became increasingly dominated by national corporations rather than local people and organizations, diverting capital outside of Spokane and decreasing growth and investment opportunities in the city. Crime spiked in the 1890s and 1900s, with eruptions of violent activity involving unions such as the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), or "Wobblies" as they were often known, whose free speech fights had begun to garner national attention. Now, with grievances concerning the unethical practices of the employment agencies, they initiated a free speech fight in September 1908 by purposely breaking a city ordinance on soapboxing. The population explosion and the building of homes, railroads, and mines in northern Idaho and southern British Columbia fueled the logging industry. Rail freight rates were much higher in Spokane than the rates in coastal seaport cities such as Seattle and Portland, so much so that Minneapolis merchants could ship goods first to Seattle and then back to Spokane for less than shipping directly to Spokane, even though the rail line ran through Spokane on the way to the coast. The Inland Northwest region has also long been associated with farming, especially wheat production. Initially, the Palouse was thought to be unsuitable for wheat production due to the hilly terrain, believing wheat could not be cultivated on the tops of the hills, but the region showed great promise for wheat production when it began in the late 1850s in part due to the hilltops. Inland Empire farmers exported wheat, livestock and other agricultural products to ports such as New York, Liverpool and Tokyo. Local morale was affected for years by the collapse of the Division Street Bridge early in the morning on December 15, 1915, which killed five people and injured over 20, but a new bridge was built (eventually replaced in 1994). The 1920 census showed a net increase of just 35 individuals, which actually indicates that thousands left the city when considering the natural growth rate of a population. The Inland Empire was heavily dependent on natural resources and extractive goods produced from mines, forests, and farms, which experienced a fall in demand. The situation improved slightly with the start of World War II as aluminum production commenced in Spokane due to the area's cheap electricity (produced from regional dams) and the increased demand for airplanes. A recreation park showcasing the Spokane Falls was the preferred option, and after successful negotiation to relocate the railroad facilities on Havermale Island, they executed on a proposal to host the first environmentally themed World's Fair in Expo '74 on May 4, becoming the smallest city at the time to host a World's Fair. This event transformed Spokane's downtown, removing a century of railroad infrastructure and re-inventing the urban core. After Expo '74, the fairgrounds became the Riverfront Park. The growth witnessed in the late 1970s and early 1980s was interrupted by another U.S. recession in 1981, in which silver, timber, and farm prices dropped. The period of decline for the city lasted into the 1990s and was also marked by a loss of many steady family-wage jobs in the manufacturing sector. Developing the city's strength in the medical and health sciences fields has seen some success, resulting in the expansion of the University District with two medical school branches. The city faces challenges such as a scarcity of high-paying jobs, pockets of poverty, and areas of high crime. Other major projects include the building of the Big Easy concert house (now the Knitting Factory) and renovation of the historic Montvale Hotel, the Kirtland Cutter-designed Davenport Hotel (after being vacant for over 20 years), the Fox Theater (now home to the Spokane Symphony) as well as the completion of the WSU Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences Building in 2013 and the Davenport Grand Hotel in 2015, Ridpath Hotel in 2018 and the ongoing renovation of Riverfront Park (as of May 2019). The Kendall Yards development on the west side of downtown Spokane is one of the largest construction projects in the city's history. Directly across the Spokane River from downtown, it will blend residential and retail space with plazas and walking trails. ==Geography==

Topography silhouetted by radio antennas Spokane is located on the Spokane River in eastern Washington at an elevation of above sea level, about west of the Idaho border, south of the Canadian border, due east of Seattle, and southwest of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The lowest elevation in the city of Spokane is the northernmost point of the Spokane River within city limits (in Riverside State Park) at ; the highest elevation is on the northeast side, near the community of Hillyard (though closer to Beacon Hill and the North Hill Reservoir) at . Spokane is part of the Inland Northwest region, consisting of eastern Washington, north Idaho, northwestern Montana, and northeastern Oregon. The city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. of the Spokane River flowing by Canada island Spokane lies mostly within the Spokane Valley Outwash Plains at the periphery of the North Central Rockies forests ecoregion and partly within the eastern edge of the basaltic Channeled Scablands steppe of the Columbia Plateau ecoregion, a plain that eventually rises sharply to the east towards the rugged, timbered Selkirk Mountains. The highest peak in Spokane County is Mount Spokane, at an elevation of , on the eastern side of the Selkirk Mountains. The Spokane River is the area's most prominent water feature, a tributary of the Columbia River, originating from Lake Coeur d'Alene in northern Idaho. The river flows west across the Washington state line through downtown Spokane, meeting Latah Creek, then turns to the northwest, where it is joined by the Little Spokane River on its way to the Columbia River, north of Davenport. The Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge south of Cheney is the closest natural reserve, the closest National Forest is the Colville National Forest, the closest National Recreation Area is the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area and the closest national park is Mount Rainier National Park, approximately a four-and-a-half hour drive from Spokane. Cityscape Neighborhoods neighborhood Spokane's neighborhoods range from the Victorian-style South Hill and Browne's Addition, to the Davenport District of Downtown, to the more contemporary neighborhoods of north Spokane. Spokane's neighborhoods are gaining attention for their history, as illustrated by the city being home to 18 recognized National Register Historical Districts. Some of Spokane's best-known neighborhoods are Riverside, Browne's Addition, and Hillyard. The Riverside neighborhood consists primarily of downtown Spokane and is the central business district of Spokane. The neighborhoods south of downtown Spokane are collectively known as the South Hill. Downtown Spokane contains many of the city's public facilities, including City Hall, Riverfront Park (site of Expo '74), and the Spokane Convention Center, First Interstate Center for the Arts and Spokane Arena. The Spokane County Courthouse and public safety campus is adjacent to downtown in the historic West Central neighborhood. To the east of downtown is East Central and the adjacent University District and budding "International District". To the west of downtown is one of Spokane's oldest and densest neighborhoods, Browne's Addition. A National Historic District west of Downtown, Browne's Addition was Spokane's first prestigious address, notable for its array of old mansions built by Spokane's early elite in the Queen Anne and early American Craftsman styles. The area houses the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture. In northeast Spokane, the Hillyard neighborhood began in 1892 as the chosen site for James J. Hill's Great Northern Railway yard, placed outside Spokane city limits to avoid "burdensome taxes". Most of Spokane's notable buildings and landmarks are in the Riverside neighborhood and the downtown commercial district, where many of the buildings were rebuilt after the Great Fire of 1889 in the Romanesque Revival style. The principal architect of many buildings of this period was Kirtland Kelsey Cutter. Other structures designed by Cutter include the Spokane Club, Washington Water Power Substation, Monroe Street Bridge (featured in the city seal), the Steam Plant, and the Davenport Hotel. Built in renaissance and Spanish Revival style, the Davenport Hotel cost two million dollars to complete and included new technologies at the time of its opening in September 1914, such as chilled water, elevators, and air cooling. The modernists in Spokane gave the city a new look and were instrumental in the developments, design, and legacy of the Expo '74 World's Fair in what is now Riverfront Park. During this time, one of the city's foremost and influential architects was Warren C. Heylman. Heylman's career was most productive during the 1960s and 1970s where his main body of work was done in the modernist style, designing numerous residential houses, apartment buildings, and architectural embellishments. Some of his most noteworthy works in Spokane include The Parkade, Spokane International Airport, Spokane Regional Health Building, and the Burlington Northern Latah Creek Bridge over Hangman Valley. In high demand following his firms' design of the Idaho Building at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, Cutter found work constructing many mansions for mining and railroad tycoons such as Patrick "Patsy" Clark and Daniel C. Corbin and son Austin. The older neighborhoods of the early 20th century, such as West Central, East Central, Logan, Hillyard, and much of the lower South Hill, feature a large concentration of American Craftsman style bungalows. In Hillyard, the most architecturally intact neighborhood in Spokane, 85 percent of these buildings are historic. As the city expanded mainly to the north in the middle of the 20th century, the bungalows in the "minimal traditional" style commonplace from the 1930s to the 1950s tend to predominate in the Northwest, North Hill, and Bemiss neighborhoods. This architectural style occupies the neighborhoods where the integrity of Spokane's street grid pattern is largely intact (especially the areas north of downtown and south of Francis Ave.), and the houses have backyard alleys for carports, deliveries, and refuse collection. Contemporary suburbs and architecture are prevalent at the north and south edges of Spokane as well as in the new Kendall Yards neighborhood north of downtown. Parks and recreation In 1907, Spokane's board of park commissioners retained the services of the Olmsted Brothers to draw up a plan for Spokane's parks. Much of Spokane's park land was acquired by the city prior to World War I, establishing it early on as a leader among Western cities in the development of a citywide park system. Spokane has a system of over 87 parks totaling and includes six neighborhood aquatic centers. Some of the most notable parks in Spokane's system are Riverfront Park, Manito Park and Botanical Gardens, Riverside State Park, Saint Michael's Mission State Park, John A. Finch Arboretum, High Bridge Park and Liberty Park. Riverfront Park, created after Expo '74 and occupying the same site, is in downtown Spokane and the site of some of Spokane's largest events. The park has views of the Spokane Falls and holds a number of civic attractions, including a skyride, a rebuilt gondola lift that carries visitors across the falls from high above the river gorge. The Spokane area has many trails and rail trails, the most notable of which is the Spokane River Centennial Trail, which features over of paved trails running along the Spokane River from Spokane to the Idaho border. This trail continues on towards Coeur d'Alene for as the North Idaho Centennial Trail and is often used for alternative transportation and recreational use. In the summer, it has long been popular to visit North Idaho's "Lake Country", such as Lake Coeur d'Alene, Lake Pend Oreille, Priest Lake, or one of the other nearby bodies of water and beaches. In the winter, the public has access to five ski resorts within a couple hours of the city. The closest of these is the Mt. Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park, which has trails for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, and dog sledding. Zoological parks in Spokane include Cat Tales Zoological Park, a wildlife sanctuary primarily for big cats and the Blue Zoo an interactive aquarium in the NorthTown Mall. Flora and fauna s are resident in the city, although the rodents typically inhabit remote, mountainous locations. The area supports an abundance of wildlife in part because of its varied geology and natural history. The area contains a wide range of vegetation, from densely wooded coniferous forests to rolling grassy hills and meadows. Ponderosa pine and Douglas fir are common in the drier and lower elevation areas throughout the region. The ponderosa pine is the official tree of the City of Spokane, which is where specimens were first collected by botanist David Douglas in 1826. The Canadian Rockies ecoregion supports 70 mammals, 16 reptiles and amphibians, 168 birds, and 41 fish species. There is a high concentration of raptors in the area, bald eagles are a common sight near Lake Coeur d'Alene in December and January when kokanee spawn. The most common fish present in area lakes is the Washington-native rainbow trout, which is the official fish of Washington state. Big game common in eastern Washington include black and grizzly bears, caribou, Rocky Mountain elk, bighorn sheep, and cougar. Whitetail deer, mule deer, and moose are also found in abundance. The gray wolf population has been making a recovery in the Inland Northwest. As of June 2016, there are 16 wolf packs in eastern Washington. In August 2016, photo evidence confirmed a solitary wolf in Mount Spokane State Park. Although the ecoregion remains ecologically intact, it faces conservation challenges that include the negative effects of certain forestry management and logging practices, higher risks of forest fires due to the alteration of the trees that make up the forest composition, and habitat fragmentation as a result of urban sprawl and development, which endangers the long-term survival of vulnerable species such as mountain caribou and the American goshawk. Climate from wildfire smoke and Rayleigh scattering Spokane has a warm-summer humid continental climate (Dsb under the Köppen classification), a rare climate due to its elevation and significant winter precipitation; Spokane, however, is adjacent to and sometimes even classified as a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Csb) because the average temperature for the coldest month is over , The area typically has a warm, arid climate during the summer months, bracketed by short spring and fall seasons. On average, the warmest month is July and the coolest month is December; July averages , while December averages . As a result of the rain shadow effect of the Cascades, the Spokane area has average annual precipitation, less than half of Seattle's . Precipitation peaks in December, and summer is the driest time of the year. The Rockies shield Spokane from some of the winter season's coldest air masses traveling southward across Canada. {{Weather box {{Weather box {{cite web ==Demographics==

Racial and ethnic composition 2020 census As of the 2020 census, Spokane had a population of 228,989. The median age was 36.6 years, 21.0% of residents were under the age of 18, and 16.2% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 96.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 94.9 males age 18 and over. According to the 2020 census, 99.9% of residents lived in urban areas and 0.1% lived in rural areas. There were 94,494 households in Spokane, of which 26.3% had children under the age of 18 living in them, 37.9% were married-couple households, 22.0% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 30.6% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 34.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The population density was . There were housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 80.7% White, 2.9% some other race, 2.5% Black or African American, 2.0% Asian, 0.8% Native American or Alaskan Native, and 0.5% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, with 10.5% from two or more races. For every 100 females, there were males. Males working full-time jobs had median earnings of $ compared to $ for females. Out of the people with a determined poverty status, 11.8% were below the poverty line. Further, 14.7% of minors and 8.8% of seniors were below the poverty line. In the survey, residents self-identified with various ethnic ancestries. People of German descent made up 19.5% of the population of the town, followed by English at 13.1%, Irish at 11.5%, American at 7.6%, Norwegian at 5.5%, Italian at 4.3%, Scottish at 2.7%, Swedish at 2.3%, French at 2.2%, Polish at 2.0%, Welsh at 1.5%, Ukrainian at 1.3%, Dutch at 1.2%, Scotch-Irish at 1.1%, Arab at 1.0%, Russian at 1.0%, Danish at 0.7%, Sub-Saharan African at 0.6%, Czech at 0.6%, and Swiss at 0.6%. As of 2016, there are also at least three Jewish congregations. The Emanu-El congregation erected the first synagogue in Spokane and the state of Washington on September 14, 1892. The city's first mosque opened in 2009 as the Spokane Islamic Center. Spokane, like Washington and the Pacific Northwest region as a whole, is part of the Unchurched Belt, a region characterized by low church membership rates and religious participation. The city serves as the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane, which was established in 1913, and the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane, established in 1929. The Spokane Washington Temple, established in 1999, serves Latter-day Saints from the east of the county. Spokane has hosted an annual multicultural celebration, Unity in the Community, since 1995. The city has become more diverse in recent decades. People from countries in the former Soviet Union (especially Russians and Ukrainians) form a comparatively large demographic in Spokane and Spokane County, the result of a large influx of immigrants and their families after the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. According to the 2000 Census, the number of people of Russian or Ukrainian ancestry in Spokane County was reported to be 7,700 (4,900 residing in the city of Spokane), amounting to two percent of the county. Spokane was once home to a sizable Asian community, mostly Japanese, centered in a district called Chinatown from the early days of the city until 1974. As in many western railway towns, the Asian community started off as an encampment for migrant laborers working on the railroads. The Chinatown Asian community thrived until the 1940s and experienced a population boom during WWII as Japanese families fled the exclusion zones along the coast, after which its population decreased and became integrated and dispersed, losing its Asian character; urban blight and the preparations leading up to Expo '74 led to Chinatown's eventual demolition. The Spokane and Coeur d'Alene Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) are now included in a single Combined Statistical Area (CSA) by the Office of Management and Budget. The Spokane–Coeur d'Alene CSA had around 781,497 residents in 2022. ==Economy==

once occupied the Peyton Building Spokane became an important rail and shipping center because of its location between mining and farming areas. Natural resources have historically been the foundation of Spokane's economy, with the mining, logging, and agriculture industries providing much of the region's economic activity. After mining declined at the turn of the 20th century, agriculture and logging replaced mining as the primary influences in the economy. Agriculture has always been an important sector in the local economy. The surrounding area, especially to the south is the Palouse, a region that has long been associated with farming, especially wheat production where it is one of the largest wheat producing regions in the United States. As with the mining industry in the late 1880s, Spokane was an important agricultural market and trade center. Inland Empire farmers exported wheat, livestock and other agricultural products to the ports such as New York, Liverpool and Tokyo. The Inland Northwest also supports many vineyards and microbreweries as well. By the early 20th century Spokane was primarily a commercial center rather than an industrial center. In Spokane, wood and food processing, printing and publishing, primary metal refining and fabrication, electrical and computer equipment, and transportation equipment are leaders in the manufacturing sector. Mining, forestry, and agribusiness remain important to the local and regional economy, but Spokane's economy has diversified to include other industries, including the high-tech and biotech sectors. Avista Corporation, the holding company of Avista Utilities, is the only company in Spokane that has been listed in the Fortune 500, ranked 299 on the list in 2002. Other companies with head offices in the Spokane area include technology company Key Tronic, vacation rental provider Stay Alfred, and microcar maker Commuter Cars. Despite diversification to new industries, Spokane's economy has struggled in recent decades. Spokane was ranked the #1 "Worst City For Jobs" in America in both 2012 and 2015, while also ranking #4 in 2014. Additionally, Forbes named Spokane the "Scam Capital of America" in 2009 due to widespread business fraud. Trends of fraud were noted as far back as 1988, again in 2002, and continuing through 2011. The largest military facility and employer, the 92d Air Refueling Wing, was stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base near Airway Heights. The leading industries in Spokane for the employed population 16 years and older were educational services, health care, and social assistance (26.5 percent), retail trade (12.7 percent), and arts, entertainment, recreation, and accommodation food services (10.4 percent). As the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest, as well as parts of southern British Columbia and Alberta, Spokane serves as a commercial, manufacturing, transportation, medical, shopping, and entertainment hub. In 2017, the Spokane–Spokane Valley MSA had a gross metropolitan product of $25.5 billion while the Coeur d'Alene metropolitan area was $5.93 billion. As of 2014, economic development in the Spokane area primarily focuses on promoting the following industries: manufacturing (especially aerospace manufacturing), health sciences, professional services, information science and technology, finance and insurance as well as clean technology, and digital media. To aid economic development, the eastern branch of Innovate Washington, a state-supported business incubator was placed in the city. In recent years, Spokane has become a growing technology hub for both established companies and startups. Fortune 1000 cybersecurity leader, F5, Inc., has two offices in the area with over 250 employees whom are focused on hardware product development, software engineering, global services support, and digital sales. Other established firms are moving to Spokane, such as Remitly, an app-based financial services corporation, which was founded by Josh Hug, a Whitworth University graduate. Ignite Northwest, led by Silicon Valley entrepreneur Tom Simpson, has invested over $100 million through the Spokane Angel Alliance and Ignite to fund and support early stage companies. ==Culture==

interior of the Fox Theater Arts and theater Spokane's main art districts are located in the Davenport Arts District, the Garland Business District, and East Sprague. The First Friday Artwalk, which occurs the first Friday of every month, is dedicated to local vendors and performers displaying art around downtown. The two most important Artwalk dates (the first Friday of February and October) attract large crowds to the art districts. The Davenport Arts District has the largest concentration of art galleries and is home to many of Spokane's main performing arts venues, including the Knitting Factory, Fox Theater, and Bing Crosby Theater. The Knitting Factory is a concert house that serves as a setting for many mainstream touring musicians and acts. The Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox, restored to its original 1931 Art Deco state after years of being derelict, Touring stand-up comedians are hosted by the Spokane Comedy Club. Theater is provided by Spokane's only resident professional company, The Modern Theater, though there are also the Spokane Civic Theatre and several other amateur community theaters and smaller groups. The First Interstate Center for the Arts often hosts large traveling exhibitions, shows, and tours. Spokane was awarded the All-America City Award by the National Civic League in 1974, 2004, and 2015. Spokane offers an array of musical performances catering to a variety of interests. Spokane's local music scene, however, is considered somewhat lacking by the Spokane All-Ages Music Initiative and other critics, who have identified a need for a legitimate all-ages venue for music performances. The Spokane Symphony presents a full season of classical music, and the Spokane Jazz Orchestra, a full season of jazz music. The Spokane Jazz Orchestra, formed in 1962, is a 70-piece orchestra and non-profit organization. Museums There are several museums in the city, most notably the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, located a few blocks from the center of downtown in Browne's Addition, amid the mansions of Spokane's late 19th-century "Age of Elegance". A Smithsonian affiliate museum, it houses a large collection of Native American artifacts as well as regional and national traveling art exhibits. The Mobius Science Center and the related Mobius Kid's Museum in downtown Spokane seek to generate interest in science, technology, engineering, and math among the youth in a hands-on experience. The Jundt Art Museum at Gonzaga University features of exhibition space and contains sizable collections of prints from the Bolker, Baruch, Jacobs, and Corita Kent collections. The museum houses glass art by Dale Chihuly, bronze sculptures by Auguste Rodin, tapestries, paintings, ceramics, photographs, and a wide range of gifts, including from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation and Collections. On the campus of Gonzaga University, the Crosby House, Bing Crosby's childhood home, houses the Bing Crosby Memorabilia Room, the world's largest Crosby collection with around 200 pieces. A museum of flight showcasing historic airplanes and curated by the Historic Flight Foundation is located at Felts Field. Events and activities Spokane is known as the birthplace of the national movement started by Sonora Smart Dodd that led to the proposal and the eventual establishment of Father's Day as a national holiday in the U.S. The first observation of Father's Day in Spokane was on June 19, 1910. Sonora conceived the idea in Spokane's Central Methodist Episcopal Church, while listening to a Mother's Day sermon. The Lilac Bloomsday Run, held in the spring on the first Sunday of May, is a race for competitive runners as well as walkers that attracts international competition. Also in May is the Lilac Festival which honors the military, celebrates youth, and showcases the region. Spokane's unofficial nickname, the "Lilac City", refers to a flowering shrub that has flourished since its introduction to the area in the early 20th century. In June the city hosts Spokane Hoopfest, a 3-on-3 basketball tournament, among the largest of its kind. One of Spokane's most popular local events is Pig Out in the Park, an annual six-day food and entertainment festival where attendees may eat a variety of foods and listen to free live music concerts featuring local, regional, and national recording artists in Riverfront Park. The Spokane International Film Festival, held every February, is a small, juried festival that features documentaries and shorts from around the world. The Spokane Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, held every November, features contemporary, independent films of interest to the LGBT community. Other notable events in the Spokane region include the Spokane County Interstate Fair, Japan Week, Spokane Pride Parade and the Lilac City Comicon. The Spokane County Interstate Fair is held annually in September at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center in Spokane Valley. Japan Week is held in April and celebrates the sister-city relationship with Nishinomiya, Hyogo, demonstrating the many commonalities shared between the two cities. Students from the Spokane campus of Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute, Gonzaga, Whitworth, and other area schools organize an array of Japanese cultural events. The gay and lesbian Spokane Pride Parade is held each June. There is an annual Renaissance fair and Civil War reenactment as well. ==Government and politics==

The City of Spokane operates under a mayor–council form of government, with executive and legislative branches that are elected in non-partisan elections. David Condon was elected mayor in November 2011 and took office on the last business day of the year. The previous mayor was Mary Verner, who succeeded Dennis P. Hession who himself succeeded the recalled James "Jim" West. The city elected James Everett Chase as its first African-American mayor in 1981, and after his retirement, elected the city's first woman mayor, Vicki McNeil. Spokane is the county seat of Spokane County, a position it wrested from Cheney in 1886. Spokane is a part of Washington's 3rd legislative district, which is represented in the Washington State Senate by Andy Billig. The 3rd Legislative District is represented in the Washington House of Representatives by Marcus Riccelli and Timm Ormsby. Washington State is represented nationally in the Senate by Democrat Patty Murray and Democrat Maria Cantwell. Spokane native Tom Foley was a Democratic Speaker of the House and served as a representative of Washington's 5th district for 30 years, enjoying large support from Spokane, until his narrow defeat in the "Republican Revolution" of 1994, the only time U.S. voters have turned out a sitting Speaker of the House since 1860. Crime The crime rate per 1,000 people in the Spokane metropolitan area (Spokane County) was 64.8 in 2012, higher than the Washington state average of 38.3; the violent crime rate of 3.8 and property crime rate of 61 also exceed the statewide averages of 2.5 and 35.8, respectively. NeighborhoodScout describes Spokane as "Safer than 2% of U.S. Cities". Half of all property crimes are localized in about 6.5 percent of the city. Spokane had the fourth-highest rate of auto theft in the U.S. in 2010 and 2011, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. In the 1990s, the Spokane Police Department (SPD) established a special gang unit, with an officer "collecting intelligence on gang activity and disseminating it to street officers". The transition of the Spokane Police Department to a community-policing precinct model has helped curb crime rates since its introduction downtown, and has been expanded citywide. The crime woes are possibly due in part to an imbalance that Spokane County prisons receive of pre-release and work-release prisoners; An investigation by the Tacoma News Tribune found that while Spokane County accounts for 6.21 percent of the inmates in state prisons, it receives a disproportionate 16.73 percent of the inmate population to be released into the general population. Spokane and the Spokane Police Department have received national publicity and scrutiny in the 2000s and 2010s due to many officer-involved shootings and allegations of excessive force. The most high-profile of these incidents was the 2006 death of Otto Zehm, a mentally challenged man who was initially suspected of theft at a convenience store. Zehm was later found to have committed no crime, but was struck with batons by several officers and tasered. The increased pressure on the SPD prompted an independent review by a commission of the organization's use-of-force policies, an internal culture audit, and the purchase of body cameras. Housing Restrictive zoning regulations were implemented in Spokane in the middle of the 20th century. These zoning regulations were frequently motivated by a desire to keep lower-income families out of certain neighborhoods, in particular racial minorities. In 2022, Spokane relaxed its zoning regulations to permit on an interim basis duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes and townhomes in all residential zones of Spokane. In 2023, Spokane permanently permitted up to six housing units to be built on any lot in a residential area, as well as allow nonresidential businesses (such as grocery stores) and facilities (such as schools and churches) in residential areas. ==Education==

Public and private schools Spokane Public Schools (District 81) was organized in 1889, and is the largest public school system in Spokane, and the second-largest in the state, as of 2014, serving roughly 30,000 students in six high schools, six middle schools, and thirty-four elementary schools. Other public school districts in the Spokane area include the Mead School District in north Spokane County, outside city limits. A variety of state-approved, independent charter schools and private and parochial elementary and secondary schools augment the public school system. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane manages ten such schools in & around the area. Higher education Spokane is home to many higher education institutions. They include the private universities Gonzaga and Whitworth, and the public Community Colleges of Spokane system (Spokane Community College and Spokane Falls Community College) as well as a variety of technical institutes. Gonzaga University and Law School were founded by the Italian-born priest Joseph Cataldo and the Jesuits in 1887. Whitworth was founded in Tacoma, Washington in 1890 and moved to its present location in 1914. It is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church and had 2,500 students studying in 53 different undergraduate and degree programs as of 2011. While Spokane is one of the larger cities in the U.S. to lack a main campus of a state-supported university within its city limits, Eastern Washington University (EWU) and Washington State University (WSU) have operations at the Riverpoint Campus in the University District, just adjacent to downtown and across the Spokane River from the Gonzaga campus. Washington State University Spokane is WSU's health sciences campus and houses the school's College of Nursing, College of Pharmacy, and Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. The main EWU campus is located southwest of Spokane in nearby Cheney, and WSU is located to the south in Pullman. In addition to WSU's health science presence in Spokane, there is also a four-year medical school branch affiliated with the University of Washington's WWAMI program. An international branch campus of the Mukogawa Women's University, the Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute, is located in Spokane. Libraries Serving the general educational needs of the local population are two public library districts, the Spokane Public Library (within city limits) and the Spokane County Library District. Founded in 1904 with funding from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, the Spokane Public Library system comprises a downtown library overlooking the Spokane Falls and five branch libraries. Special collections focus on Inland Pacific Northwest history and include reference books, periodicals, maps, photographs, and other archival materials and government documents. ==Sports==

Spokane is close to dozens of lakes and rivers for outdoor sports and recreation. People use these for swimming, boating, kayaking, rafting, and fishing. Nearby mountains provide for skiing, hiking, biking and sightseeing. The Spokane region's professional and semi-professional sports teams include the Spokane Indians in Minor League Baseball and the Spokane Chiefs in junior ice hockey. Collegiate sports in Spokane focus on the local teams such as the Gonzaga Bulldogs who compete in the NCAA's Division I West Coast Conference and the Whitworth Pirates playing in the Division III Northwest Conference and local media covers other regional teams, including the Eastern Washington Eagles, Washington State Cougars, and the Idaho Vandals. The Indians play their home games at the 6,803-seat Avista Stadium and have won seven NWL titles since their Short-Season-A debut in 1982. Prior to 1982, the Indians played at the Triple-A level. The team achieved considerable success in the early 1970s, winning the Pacific Coast League championship in 1970, and having a 94–52 record. In the 1920s and 1930s the Spokane City League, a semiprofessional baseball league of teams of the Inland Empire, reached its peak. Hockey The Spokane Chiefs are a junior ice hockey team that play in the Canadian Hockey League's Western Hockey League. They play their home games in the Spokane Arena and have a regional rivalry with the Tri-City Americans. They have won the CHL's top prize, the Memorial Cup, two times in club history, first in 1991 and again in 2008. They play their home games in ONE Spokane Stadium. Major events The Spokane Arena is the city's premier sports venue. In the years since the Spokane Arena opened, it has played host to several major sporting events. The first major event was the 1998 Memorial Cup, the championship game of the Canadian Hockey League. Four years later in 2002, the city hosted the 2002 Skate America figure skating competition and then the 2007 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in the Spokane Arena. The latter event set an attendance record, selling nearly 155,000 tickets. Spokane later hosted the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships Spokane is also home to The Podium indoor hydraulic track and event space, and multi-use One Spokane Stadium. ==Media==

Print Newspaper service in Spokane is provided by its only major daily newspaper, The Spokesman-Review, which has a daily circulation of 76,291 and Sunday circulation of 95,939. The Spokesman-Review was formed from the merger of the Spokane Falls Review (1883–1894) and the Spokesman (1890–1893) in 1893 and was first published under the present name on June 29, 1894. It later absorbed the competing afternoon paper The Spokane Daily Chronicle, a significant newspaper that existed from 1881 until 1982 and returned in 2021. More specialized publications include the weekly alternative newspaper Inlander, the bi-weekly Spokane Journal of Business, and the student-run Gonzaga Bulletin. Monthly publications include The Black Lens, an African American community newspaper, a newspaper for parents, Kids Newspaper, and a home and lifestyle magazine, ''Spokane Coeur d'Alene Living''. Radio According to Arbitron, Spokane is the 94th-largest radio market in the U.S., with 532,100 listeners aged 12 and over. There are 28 AM and FM radio stations broadcast in the city. The five most listened-to stations are KKZX-FM (classic rock), KQNT-AM (news/talk), KXLY-FM (country), KISC-FM (adult contemporary),KZBD-FM (Contemporary Hit Radio), and KZZU-FM (Hot AC). Spokane's primary sources of non-commercial and community radio include Spokane's NPR-affiliate station KPBX-FM and KYRS, a full-power community radio station. Television Spokane is the 73rd-largest television market in the U.S., accounting for 0.366% of the total TV households in the U.S. The city has six television stations, representing the major commercial networks and public television. Spokane is the television broadcast center for much of eastern Washington (except the Yakima and Tri-Cities area), northern Idaho, northwestern Montana, northeastern Oregon, and parts of southern Canada (by cable television). Spokane receives broadcasts in the Pacific Time Zone, with weekday prime time beginning at 8 pm. Montana and Alberta, Canada are in the Mountain Time Zone and receive Spokane broadcasts one hour later by their local time. The major network television affiliates include KREM (TV) 2 (CBS), KXLY-TV 4 (ABC), KHQ-TV 6 (NBC; Spokane's first television station, on air on December 20, 1952), KAYU 28 (FOX), KSKN 22 (The CW), KSPS-TV 7 (PBS), and KCDT-TV 26 (PBS; operating out of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho). ==Infrastructure==

Transportation City streets Spokane's streets use a grid plan that is oriented to the four cardinal directions; generally, the east–west roads are designated as avenues, and the north–south roads are referred to as streets. Major east–west thoroughfares in the city include Francis, Wellesley, Mission, Sprague, and 29th Avenues. Major north–south thoroughfares include Maple–Ash, Monroe, Division, Hamilton, Greene–Market (north of I-90), and Ray–Freya (south of I-90) Streets. Division Street divides the city into East and West, while Sprague Avenue splits the city into North and South. Division Street is Spokane's major retail corridor; Sprague Avenue serves the same purpose in Spokane Valley. With over 40,000 vehicles per day in average daily traffic from Interstate 90 north to the US 2–US 395 junction, North Division is Spokane's busiest corridor. Spokane's extensive skywalk system covers thirteen blocks in the downtown area and is among the largest in the United States; it is used for pedestrian travel in cold and inclement weather and retail space as well. Despite this, the city has an average Walk Score of 49 as of 2020, indicating that most errands require a car. Its average Bike Score is 52. Mass transportation battery electric bus charging at Spokane Community College Before the influx of automobiles, Spokane's electric streetcar and interurban lines played a dominant role in moving people and goods around Spokane. Streetcars were installed as early as 1888, when they were pulled by horses. Many older side streets in Spokane still have visible streetcar rails embedded in them. Streetcar service was reduced due to declining ridership beginning in 1922, and by August 1936, all lines had been abandoned or converted to motor buses. Spokane has intercity rail and bus service provided by Amtrak, Greyhound, Flixbus and Jefferson Lines via the Spokane Intermodal Center. The city is a stop for Amtrak's Empire Builder on its way to and from Chicago's Union Station en route to Seattle and Portland. Amtrak's through service to Seattle and Portland is a legacy of BNSF Railway's old Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway trackage. Spokane is a major railway junction for the BNSF Railway and the Union Pacific Railroad and is the western terminus for the Montana Rail Link. The STA Plaza in downtown Spokane acts as the regional hub for most STA routes. As a part of the system's high performance transit network plan, STA introduced Eastern Washington's first bus rapid transit (BRT) route, City Line, in July 2023. STA is also planning a Division Street BRT line from downtown Spokane to Mead that is scheduled to open by 2030. Freeways and highways from Sunset Hill Interstate 90 (I-90) runs east–west from Seattle, through downtown Spokane, and eastward through Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake, and onward to Coeur d'Alene and then Missoula. Although they are not limited access highways like I-90, US 2 and US 395 enter Spokane from the west via I-90 and continue north through Spokane via Division Street. The two highways share the same route until they reach "The Y", a fork where US 395 continues northward to Deer Park, Colville then onward to Canada, and US 2 branches off to the northeast, continuing to Mead, Newport, and Sandpoint. US 195, also known as the Inland Empire Highway, connects to Interstate 90 west of Spokane near Latah Creek and travels south through the Palouse. Airports Spokane International Airport (IATA: GEG, ICAO: KGEG) serves as the primary commercial airport for Spokane, Eastern Washington, and Northern Idaho. It is the second-largest airport in the state of Washington, and is recognized by the Federal Aviation Administration as a small hub, with service from nine passenger and five cargo airlines. The airport is located west of downtown Spokane and is approximately a 10-minute drive away. The international airport's three-letter designation is "GEG", a result and legacy of the Geiger Field days prior to 1960, when the airport was named after Army aviator Major Harold Geiger in 1941. Felts Field is a general aviation airport serving the Spokane area and is located in east Spokane along the south bank of the Spokane River. Aviation at Felts Field dates back to 1913 and the strip served as Spokane's primary airport until commercial air traffic was redirected to Geiger Field after World War II. The health-care industry is a large and increasingly important industry in Spokane; the city provides specialized care to many patients from the surrounding Inland Northwest and as far north as the Canada–US border. The city's health-care needs are served primarily by non-profit Seattle-based Providence Health & Services and non-profit Tacoma-based Multicare Health System, which run the two biggest hospitals, Sacred Heart Medical Center, and Deaconess Hospital, respectively. These two hospitals, the 102-bed St. Luke's Rehabilitation Institute, 100-bed Inland Northwest Behavioral Health, and most of Spokane's major health-care facilities, are located on Spokane's Lower-South Hill, just south of downtown, in what is known as the "Medical District" of Spokane. Sacred Heart Hospital opened originally with just 31 beds on Spokane Falls Boulevard on January 27, 1887, but later moved to its present location at 101 West Eighth Avenue. As of 2014 it had 642 beds, with 28,319 admissions, 71,543 emergency room visits, and 2,982 births annually, and a full-time staff of 29 doctors and dentists and 583 registered nurses. Deaconess Medical Center, the smaller of the two main hospitals, had 388 beds as of 2014. Other hospitals in the area include the Spokane Veterans Affairs Medical Center in the northwest part of town, Providence Holy Family Hospital on the north side, and MultiCare Valley Hospital in the Spokane Valley. One of 20 specialty orthopedic Shriners Hospitals in the U.S. is also located in Spokane. One of Washington's two state psychiatric hospitals, Eastern State Hospital, is located away in Medical Lake. Utilities The City of Spokane provides municipal water, wastewater management, and solid waste management. Spokane operates Washington's only waste-to-energy plant as well as two solid waste transfer stations as part of the Spokane Regional Solid Waste System, a collaboration between the City of Spokane and Spokane County. Electricity generated by the waste-to-energy plant is used to operate the facility, with excess energy being sold to Puget Sound Energy. Serving over 500,000 people, the aquifer is distinguished in being one of the largest aquifers in the country at 10 trillion gallons, as well as having one of the fastest flow rates in the country at per day, and for its purity. Natural gas and electricity are provided by the local utility, Avista Utilities, while CenturyLink and Comcast provide television, internet, and telephone service. Spokane hosts three hydroelectric generation facilities on the Spokane River: the Upriver Dam, the Upper Falls Dam, and the Monroe Street Dam. The Upriver Dam is owned and operated by the City of Spokane, and generates the electricity needed to operate the municipal water supply's pressure pumps. The power generated in excess of that is sold to Avista Utilities. ==Notable people==

• Nishinomiya, Japan – since September 1961 (Spokane's first sister city) • Jecheon, South Korea • Jilin City, China • Limerick, Ireland • San Luis Potosí City, Mexico • Cagli, Italy ==See also==