Hecker’s East Sprague Hardware Store

Year Built:  1951

Style:  Commercial, Vernacular

Address:  2008 E Sprague Avenue

Built in 1951, the building is an example of mid-Century construction seen along Sprague Avenue, a bustling commercial district. The simple, concrete block, commercial block was originally home to Hecker’s East Sprague Hardware, a participant in the Home Town Hardware program which united over 300 individually owned hardware stores in the region. Fred H. Hecker operated his store on East Sprague for about ten years before moving further east along Sprague. By 1988, the building was operating as Pretty Girls, a strip club and adult bookstore. It is currently vacant.

Despite the dramatic change in its physical appearance, the building nonetheless maintains some degree of historic integrity, maintains most of the original openings and is more than likely intact beneath its current veneer. Additionally, the building is a part of a contiguous streetscape along East Sprague of an intact commercial district.

Top image:  East Sprague Hardware in 1951 [MAC L87-1.66943-51]

Lower images left to right: April 9, 1954 Spokane Daily Chronicle advertisement; May 9, 1969 Spokane Daily Chronicle article