508) 1st Street

This building was erected in 1890 after the great Cheney fire of 18 April 1889. John Melville and George W. Rich built two 25' x 65' commercial spaces sharing front and back façades. The brick buildings were typical commercial one-story structures with a flat roof, with a built-up front façade that sat on basalt foundations. Remodeling has completely covered the original building and the east side wall was rebuilt with cement block to re-enforce the deteriorating brick after the small adjacent building was removed. The building housed two commercial spaces known as 506 and 508 1st. Click Read More to view the story.

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 ...

Crunk’s Hill & Cheney’s First School

Located on the west side of North 6th Street near the corner of Mike McKeehan Way, Crunk's Hill was leveled to create sport fields. There is a plaque at the restrooms. George W. Crunk came west from Tennessee. He served in the Union Army during the Civil War as a Private with the 20th Regiment, Kentucky Infantry, Company C. We don’t know when he came west, but by June 1878, he was farming this land with his wife, Annah, and their three children. The Crunk family did not stay long in the area, they moved to Oregon in 1883, but hill is remembered as part of Cheney lore because of an incident in the fall of 1878. In 1915, Mary Cook Spangle spoke ...

1920 – Senior Hall

Senior Hall was dedicated as the second Normal School women's dormitory on July 9, 1920. While today there is a walkway, in the early days, D Street and automobile traffic passed in front of the building. The hall was used as a dormitory until 1971. While the hall opened in 1920, work on the third floor wasn't finished until 1925 due to financial problems.

1916 – Monroe Hall

Monroe Hall was the first dormitory built at the Normal school. It was dedicated February 4, 1916, and housed about 90 women. At this time, the majority of students were women, as teaching was one of the few professions open to single women.

1908 – Normal Training School

The Normal School Training School served as a regular elementary school for Cheney residents, as well as a hands-on training facility for the student-teachers of the Normal School. This ghost once stood on the west side of Showalter Hall where the parking lot is today. The Normal School Training School department was first organized in 1892 with Miss Nellie G. Hutchinson as its first principal. The student-teachers observed classes being conducted, then they would step in to teach themselves while being observed by their instructors. By 1907, the department had outgrown its space in the main Normal School building. Completed during the summer of ...

6 results for tag: Women