14 results for tag: Washington State

1883 – 416 1st Street

This building is believed to be the oldest brick commercial building in Cheney, though our pioneer ancestors would not recognize it today. Only a few details from the original building remain on the front façade. Erected in 1883 by Wellington W. Griswold after having seen the damage to the business district from several fires, Griswold's building was a fine 2-story brick structure which housed his Gem Saloon on the ground floor with a large hall on the second floor. Click Read More to view the story.

Ghosts of Our Past – Ratcliffe Ford and Implement Company

Miles of barb wire, old farm equipment rusting in the boneyards on farms, and acres of tilled soil are evidence of the ghost of the C.A. Ratcliffe Company in our community. The 117-year story of the Ratcliffe Ford Dealership and Ratcliffe Implement Company, involves three locations on a single block of Second Street between College and F.

A Tale of Two Steals; When Cheney Was the County Seat

In the 1880 election to set the site of the Spokane County seat, little Cheney won the vote - much to the chagrin of the city of Spokane Falls. This is the story of that election from Cheney's perspective of how Spokane Falls attempted to steal the election and Cheney had to "steal" the county books which voters had given to them. https://youtu.be/YYRGzo4-a_E

Becoming Cheney; How Settlers Came Here

 OR, watch the video version https://youtu.be/N_513157n3E  

Second Tyler School

This larger, second, Tyler School was completed in 1912 at the north end of B Street. There were three grades to a room. The high school was in the same building. There was a horse barn for the kids to stable their horses in and a shelter for cars to park.  - Arley Heyer, December 1, 1994. Originally, there were two horse barns near the schoolhouse with room for 16 horses. Students who rode to school were responsible for bringing food for their horse. In March 1918, school was closed due to a Smallpox outbreak. Several children were sickened with the disease and the school was closed for a week to help stop its spread. Dr. Cooper of Cheney spent ...

County Jail in Cheney

This jail structure was built when Cheney became the Spokane County seat in 1880. The jail, at 4th and E [College Ave], was located on the opposite corner from the courthouse.      Even after the county seat was moved to Spokane, the jail stayed in use until the City of Cheney built a new city hall and jail in 1890. The structure was purchased by William Sutton who moved it to his farm and used it as a chicken coop. Even after the old building was demolished the old jailhouse door could be found inside the Sutton barn for many years.

Cheney’s County Courthouse

Named for a Native American word, Spokane, which means “Child of the Sun," the original Spokane County was merged into Stevens County in 1864. Cheney’s Daniel Percival and Spokan Falls’ John Glover didn’t realize the drama they were setting in motion when they championed a bill in the territorial legislature that recreated Spokane County in October of 1879. Spokan Falls was designated the temporary county seat until there could be a vote of the people in November 1880. A committee of men representing the precincts of the new county met to discuss options. Cheney was seen as a good choice as it was easy to access by trails and the coming ...

Winter Camp of Spokane Indians

In 1959, Sam Webb recalled that back in the 1880s a family of Spokane Indians camped on the site of the new Gibson's Grocery (1011 1st Street) every winter. He said the camp was made up of about 10 to 15 teepees. This site is on high ground near the spring of water that gave Cheney its original name of Willow Springs.  Sam came to Cheney as a boy with his family on the first passenger train on the Northern Pacific Railroad line. The Cheney area is part of the Spokane Tribe of Indians territory.   

WWI at Home Pt 50

Fred Erickson was 28 years old when he enlisted in the National Army at Fort George Wright on December 14, 1917. He was a wagoneer with Company C 20th Engineers. Fred served overseas from February 1918 to May 29, 1919. He was discharged from the Army on June 10, 1919 and married his Cheney sweetheart, Mabel Bedker that September, returning to farming. Herbert Francis Erickson was a laborer at the Pine Creek Dairy in the Pioneer Township south of Cheney when he enlisted in the National Army at Fort George Wright on December 14, 1917. He joined the Army with his older brother, Fred. Francis served with Wagon Company 1 of the 23rd Engineers Regiment. ...

WWI at Home Pt 40

Born near Bonnie Lake, Cleve Crosley was inducted into the Army on October 5, 1917 at Spokane. He served with the Machine Gun Company 361st Infantry, the 434th Aeronautical Construction Squadron Signal Corps, and the Headquarters Spruce Production Squadron at Vancouver, Washington. Cleve was discharged December 17, 1918. He returned to farming south of Cheney after the war. Organized as 434th Aero Squadron at Vancouver Barracks in Washington, it was re-designated 69th Spruce Squadron, July 1918 and transferred to Clatsop, Oregon and assigned to Spruce Production Division.