From April 2 to December 10, 1913, a photo was taken from the same spot about once a week during the construction of the Davenport Hotel.  Erected in downtown Spokane within walking distance of the Spokane Falls and a multitude of shops and restaurants, the Davenport Hotel has anchored the city’s core for over 100 years.  Designed by Kirtland Cutter, the nearly square footprint of the hotel occupies the western two-thirds of the city block bounded by West Sprague Avenue on the north, West First Avenue to the south and flanked by South Post Street to the east and South Lincoln Street to the west.  The first through third floors are oriented around the central lobby’s natural lighting, featuring shops, offices and rooms around the building perimeter.

Built in the waning years of the railroad era, the Davenport was an important measure of the urbanity and sophistication of Spokane and the inland empire of eastern Washington, Idaho, and the mining country of western Montana.  Like the imposing baronial hotels of the Canadian Pacific Railroad, the Davenport was designed to present an outpost of elegance in a major city along the Northern Pacific and Great Northern Railroads.

To read more about the grand Davenport, check out the Spokane Register Nomination!