100 years of Valley life
A Spokane Valley timeline

1900
The Spokane and Inland Electric Railroad is organized. With trains running between Spokane and Coeur d'Alene, the railroad serves local stations in Orchard Avenue, Millwood, Pinecroft, Vera, Otis Orchards and Liberty Lake.

1901
The O'Brien Store opens at Moab. George Wendler buys a sack of flour, the first purchase.

1902
John Hatch moves onto the first irrigated tract in Greenacres. Mrs. Hatch boards workmen for 15 cents a meal.

1903
Mark F. Mendenhall and Laughlan McLean form the Spokane Canal Co. to bring water from Newman Lake to the Otis Orchards area, where together Mendenhall and McLean own about 2,750 acres.

1904
R.A. Hutchinson pays $25 an acre for 800 acres in the Spokane Valley and divides it into 10-acre tracts. Much of this land would later become part of the Opportunity township. Town plats are filed for Greenacres and Mica.

1905
Construction of the new Orchard Avenue School at Park Road and Mission Avenue is completed. The two-story, four-classroom school is of solid masonry construction and cost $6,000 to build. The building would not have electricity until 1925.

1906
A Methodist church is organized in Greenacres. J. Green Long donates a building site for the church and the ladies aid, led by Mrs. Nipple, raises $500 for construction. The building would be completed in 1908, but would burn before the first services were held.

1907
Rural Free Delivery mail service is established in the Spokane Valley, out of the Spokane Bridge post office.

1908
Vera Electric Water and Power Co. is organized by A.C. Jamison, Andrew Wood and D.K. McDonald and builds its first pumphouse of native stone on Evergreen Road. The company is named in honor of Mr. McDonald's 10-year-old daughter, Vera.

1909
President William Howard Taft visits the Spokane Valley, stopping at Parkwater, Trent and other Valley stations to wave from the platform at the back of his train car, while en route to Coeur d'Alene from Spokane.

1910
Pines Cemetery is incorporated.

1911
The Valley's first high school program is introduced in the newly built, three-classroom Otis Orchards Public School. The building, faced with stones gathered from nearby fields being cleared for the planting of apple trees, was designed by noted Spokane architect Kirtland K. Cutter. The first commencement, featuring four graduates, is held four years later at the Spokane Fruit Growers Union warehouse.

1912
The Otis Orchards Men's Commercial Club and the Otis Orchards Ladies Social and Civic Club erect a clubhouse at 22404 E. Wellesley. Fifteen years later, the building, then occupied by the Otis Orchards Fire Company, burns to the ground.

1913
The Van Marter family has a roller rink on the third floor of their recently built home at University and Valleyway.

1914
R.M. Shaeffer opens a cigar factory just south of Vera Power and Water Co.

1915
Edgecliff Tuberculosis Hospital opens in the Spokane Valley. Adults at the 200-patient hospital are housed in small cottages. A children's unit is added two years later.

1916
Appleway (now Sprague Avenue) is paved with concrete from the Spokane city limits to the Dishman railway crossing. The following year, pavement is continued four miles eastward. By 1920, Appleway would be paved to the Idaho state line.

1917
O.D. and E.C. Reinemar open the Appleway Mercantile Co. at the corner of Appleway and Argonne.

1918
Edwin E. Olsen, son of Mr. and Mrs. Gulle Olsen of Opportunity, is killed in the Battle of Argonne Forest in France.

1919
Land set aside for Upriver Municipal Golf Course is instead developed as a municipal airfield, later to be renamed Felts Field.

1920
Inland Empire Paper Co. purchases 40 wooded acres west of its paper mill and begins construction of housing for its workers. The residential community is later named Millwood.

1921
Community clubs representing the interests of Dishman, Opportunity, Greenacres, Otis Orchards, Millwood, Pasadena, Trentwood, Irvin and University Place reorganize as the Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce.

1922
Trent Road is paved from the city limits to Argonne and Argonne Road is paved from Trent to the newly rebuilt Argonne Bridge.

1923
An agricultural census finds that apple orchards occupy more than 12,000 acres in the Spokane Valley.

1924
Buell Felts and Wilbur King purchase the Valley Herald from founders Harry E. Nelson and Karl Frolander, who had launched the newspaper in 1920.

1925
Inventor Royal C. Riblet completes construction of his distinctive home, which he called "Eagle's Nest," on the brow of a basalt cliff overlooking the Spokane Valley from the north.

1926
Valley fruit growers, their orchards devastated by several hard frosts and an infestation of apple-leaf rollers, pull out 200,000 apple trees. A year later, the McDowell Warehouse at Otis Orchards burns to the ground with 30,000 never-used wooden apple boxes inside.

1927
In an election held at the Millwood Confectionery store, residents of Millwood vote 76-5 to incorporate as a fourth-class city. The new town, which boasts a high school and elementary school, a Presbyterian church, a bank, two grocery stores, a meat market and two barber shops, has a population of 437. W.A. Brazeau is the first mayor, serving a two-year term.

1928
A new Central Valley High School, complete with its own library, opens its doors to students. The 122-acre school site, fronting on the Appleway in Greenacres, was donated by the Spokane Valley Farms Company, developers of Corbin's Addition to Greenacres.

1929
A new St. Joseph's Catholic Church, built of brick with stained-glass windows and oak pews, is completed on Trent Avenue. It replaces a wood-frame church, built in 1892, which had burned the previous year.

1930
Census takers counting Valley residents find 5,280 people living in Opportunity; 1,529 in East Spokane; 1,255 in Greenacres, 493 in Millwood, 401 in Chester; and 259 in Mica.

1931
The Vera Community Congregational Church installs a new pastor, Rev. Robert B. Shaw, who preaches to a packed house on his first Sunday in the Valley. The Harvard-educated pastor, most recently of Seattle, had spent three years doing mission work in China.

1932
A run by depositors, precipitated by the closure of the neighboring Union Park Bank, forces the Dishman State Bank to close its doors. The Dishman State Bank had been formed in 1930 as a result of the merger of the State Bank of Valleyford and the Fruit Growers State Bank of Greenacres.

1933
William Schafer opens the Ski-More winter resort on the east face of Browne Mountain. The resort south of Dishman features an Olympic-size ski jump, toboggan run, skating rink and lodge. A Chevrolet automobile engine powers the resort's rope tow.

1934
Members of the Spokane Valley Women's Club present First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt with a basket of gladioli during her visit to Spokane. The flowers were cut from the gardens of Mrs. Harry Nelson and Mrs. John Wilkins.

1935
Financially crippled Spokane University is reorganized as Spokane Junior College and moves from its Valley campus into Spokane after a two-year effort to save the school, led by the Spokane Valley Chamber president J. Frank Giboney, ultimately proves unsuccessful.

1936
Spokane County Sheriff Ralph Buckley assigns a deputy with a prowl car to the Valley.

1937
The Opportunity Business Men's Club and the Opportunity Community Club decide to merge. The first order of business for the newly consolidated organization is to appoint a committee to explore the advantages of incorporating Opportunity and other districts in the Valley as individual municipalities.

1938
The 40-member West Valley High School band unveils snappy new uniforms -- orange and black military-style caps, orange and black capes, black sweaters and white pants -- at the Armistice Day football game against arch-rival Central Valley High.

1939
The Dishman Theater, owned by A.T. Dishman and managed by J.E. Hutchins, opens on the Appleway. The first feature is "King of the Turf," starring Adolphe Menjou and Dolores Costello.

1940
Spokane Valley Fire District 1 is formed. Raymond P. Kelley, past president of the Valley Chamber of Commerce, presents gold medals to four community leaders active in organizing the district: E.G. Kenney, D.R. Miggs, F.R. Slater and T.R. Toole.

1941
Central Valley High School's Douglas Field becomes the first football field in the Valley lighted for night games.

1942
Opportunity Township is one of the largest and fastest growing townships in the state. With 7,817 residents, Opportunity has a bigger population than any of the state's 10 smallest counties.

1943
Mortician Harold Thornhill and his wife, Geneva, open the Valley's first funeral home in a large house at 10300 E. Sprague originally occupied by pioneer orchardist James B. Felts and family. Thornhill also offers 24-hour ambulance service, another first for the Valley.

1944
Dr. James Aldrich opens a 35-bed Community Hospital in the former Spokane University administration building at Ninth Avenue and University Place.

1945
Only 50,000 apple trees remain in the Valley. Thirty-three years earlier, when a state horticultural census had counted 1,894,881 apple trees, the Valley was the largest fruit-growing district in the state.

1946
The reorganized Valley Chamber of Commerce moves into new quarters at 9404 E. Sprague. Merle H. Skinner is the new managing secretary. Skinner notes that one of the chamber's top priorities is improving local telephone service. At present, up to 10 households must share one line on the overloaded Walnut exchange.

1947
Ray Kortte of Opportunity is installed as president of the Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce, succeeding Clyde Jones of Dishman. The Irvin Community Club sponsors the installation dinner, held at Trent Grade School.

1948
Don Babcock, Kenneth Bush, Rogers Barth and Homer Fowler are elected to the board of directors of the Spokane Valley Country Club. The club's 160 members enjoy a nine-hole golf course and a sandy swimming beach on Liberty Lake, as well as a new clubhouse with a 60-seat dining room.

1949
Spokane County Treasurer Joe A. Stewart notes that taxpayers living in Opportunity Township will pay more than half of their taxes to support schools this year. Of every $100 in taxes, $52.91 goes toward local schools.

1950
At the request of Spokane's acting postmaster, county commissioners change the names of several Spokane Valley streets. To avoid confusion with city streets, the Valley's Central Road becomes Dickey Road, Cleveland becomes Thierman, Joseph becomes Davis, Scott becomes Stout and Sycamore becomes Hutchinson. At the same time, acting in response to requests from residents, commissioners change the names of several other Valley roads: Bellvue (in Otis Orchards) to Kenney, Burnbrae to Corrigan, and Kenney (in Orchard Avenue) to Dora.

1951
Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce President Roy Nyholm reports that there are 30,000 people living between Spokane's east city limits and the Idaho state line. The Chamber's count finds 9,800 homes, 700 businesses, 27 churches and 11 service clubs within the 57-square-mile area.

1952
A survey of households by the Valley Ministerial Association finds that, among residents claiming a religious affiliation, Roman Catholics make up the Valley's largest group, followed by Lutherans.

1953
During a presentation to the Spokane Realty Board, real estate brokers Karl K. Malone and Alvin J. Wolff note that the value of the average home in the Valley is $12,000 up from $9,200 just two years earlier. They also predict that the Valley's population will swell to 100,000 by 1975.

1954
Businessmen Bob Swartz and Art MacKelvey reveal plans to go on air with a commercial radio station serving the Valley. A year later, station KZUN begins broadcasting from 7 a.m. to dusk from a small building at Sprague and Pines.

1955
A Spokane County Health Department official warns that the Valley's 37,000 residents face a potential typhoid hazard within five years unless a sewer system is installed to protect the area's underground water supply. Health Department tests show that pollution from septic tanks is reaching the aquifer.

1956
Members of the Spokane Valley Country Club vote unanimously to offer the club's 110-acre golf course site at Liberty Lake to the county for development. The 230-member club had purchased the site the previous year for $18,500.

1957
In response to repeated complaints from Spokane Valley residents about speeders on neighborhood streets, county commissioners vote to lower the speed limit on residential streets in the Valley from 35 miles per hour to 25 mph.

1958
After a three-year study of whether the township form of government should be retained in the Spokane Valley, the last bastion of township government in Washington state, Opportunity Township supervisor Grant Groesbeck recommends that Valley residents consider incorporating the fast-growing suburban district as a city. "If something isn't done soon then it could result in piecemeal annexation to Spokane or scattered incorporations or districts," he warns.

1959
The Pleasant Prairie School District, Orchard Park School District and West Valley Union High School District combine to form West Valley School District No. 363. A year earlier, the Otis Orchards, Trent and Foothills school districts had combined to form East Valley School District No. 361.

1960
After Teamsters threaten to strike Early Dawn Dairy, the 40-year-old Veradale operation agrees to a new contract with its delivery drivers. Under terms of the new contract, the milk deliverymen receive a raise of $34 a month, to $466 plus commissions.

1961
Federal Aviation Administration officials announce that Felts Field will get a new control tower to replace the tower that was shut down in 1948. Seven years later, U.S. Sen. Warren G. Magnuson helped dedicate the tower, equipped with $132,000 of radio and weather gear. During his speech, Magnuson recalls flying with pioneer aviator Nick Mamer, who the senator said lit a cigar upon takeoff in Seattle and then smoked three more before landing the plane at Felts.

1962
The East Sprague Drive-In, Spokane's largest outdoor theater, wraps up its 13th season over Thanksgiving weekend with a double feature, "The Burning Hills," starring Natalie Wood and Tab Hunter, followed by "No Time for Sergeants," starring Andy Griffith.

1963
For the first time, the Spokane Valley Fire District and the Spokane Fire Department enter into a mutual aid fire protection agreement. The pact enables either fire department to receive help from the other in the event of a serious emergency.

1964
Construction begins on the Spokane Valley Irrigation and Municipal Water Project. When completed three years later, the $7.2 million project would supply water for both irrigation and household use within a 7,150-acre area. With 31 wells and miles of underground pipes in place and functioning, the Valley's decades-old network of irrigation canals would be abandoned.

1965
Thirteen years in the planning, University City Shopping Center opens at Sprague Avenue and University Road. The $3.5 million enclosed retail center billed as the largest air-conditioned shopping center in Washington -- features 29 stores and parking for 1,500 cars on a 17-acre site. Speaking at the grand opening ceremonies, County Commissioner W.O. Allen notes, "This marks a new era for our Spokane Valley. You merchants will find people in the Valley very friendly."

1966
A Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce count finds 732 new families living in the Valley this year. Of those new arrivals, 175 families moved to the Valley from Spokane, 195 came from elsewhere in Washington state, 81 from Idaho, 71 from California, 43 from Montana and 38 from Oregon.

1967
The Freeman community float wins the Spokane Valley Fall Festival parade's Grand Sweepstakes Award, beating out the Inland Empire Beekeepers Association float for top honors among the 53 parade entries.

1968
Just weeks after Central Valley, University and West Valley high schools are voted out of the City League by Spokane schools, U-Hi beats CV in a 63-60 thriller to win its first and only City League basketball championship. "What a way to go out, hey?" U-Hi coach Marv Ainsworth says after the game.

1969
Severe winter weather delays the opening of the new Valley General Hospital by two weeks. At last, the hospital opens with a medical staff of 140, 95 beds, 12 basinettes, a six-bed intensive care-coronary unit, three operating rooms, a large emergency room and a full delivery suite. Katey Finney, Miss Spokane Valley, cuts the ribbon during dedication ceremonies.

1970
The U.S. Census counts 53,407 people living in the Spokane Valley. According to data broken down by age groups, 49 percent of the area's population is under the age of 19. Overall, females slightly outnumber males.

1971
Political newcomer Bob McCaslin, a real estate broker, upsets incumbent George Chalich to win a Spokane Valley Fire District No. 1 commissioner's seat.

1972
Liberty Lake resident Michel L. Haney receives a commendation from the Sheriff's Department for rescuing four fishermen whose boat had capsized on the lake.

1973
For the first time, Central Valley School District's opening day enrollment tops 10,000 students. West Valley School District's first day enrollment is 3,900, while East Valley School District's is 2,600 students.

1974
Winnebago Industries parks 500 brand-new motorhomes at the Holiday Hills resort just west of Liberty Lake and offers the 24-foot coaches for nightly rental to visitors during Expo '74. Decorated in Expo colors, the air-conditioned coaches sleep six.

1975
The Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce urged Spokane County commissioners to donate the Opportunity Township Hall to the Spokane Valley Pioneer Museum. The county had taken ownership of the historic Spanish colonial building at 12112 E. Sprague in 1970, when the Legislature dissolved townships.

1976
Liberty Lake voters approved a controversial $300,000 bond issue which enabled the Liberty Lake Sewer District to secure federal funding for construction of a $4.8 million sewer system.

1977
The owners of the Dishman Theater, which had begun showing X-rated movies, were twice tried on criminal charges of exhibiting obscene materials. Twice, Spokane County Superior Court juries found the defendants not guilty, although jurors later said they were unhappy with their verdicts.

1978
A study of water samples taken from 80 test wells revealed that pollutants from septic tanks are reaching the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer. This lead to a declaration by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that the aquifer was the sole source of drinking water for the Spokane-Coeur d'Alene area and a push to build sewers throughout the urban Valley.

1979
Ground was broken at Liberty Lake for a $1.7 million, 55,000-square-foot Hewlett-Packard Co. plant. Maurice L. McGrath, manager of the computer maker's Spokane operations, said the company planned to develop a 150-acre campus here that would eventually employ several thousand people.

1980
U.S. census takers counted 82,153 people living in the Spokane Valley -- up from 46,458 just two decades earlier. According to Census Bureau data, about 30 percent of the Valley's households had an income of more than $25,000, compared to only 19 percent of households in the city of Spokane. Some of that was attributed to the high-paying jobs at Kaiser Aluminum's Trentwood plant, which the company estimated employed about 1,000 Valley residents. The average wage there was $24,076, plus $5,148 in company stock, per year.

1981
An open house was held to celebrate the acquisition of Valley General Hospital by St. Luke's Memorial Hospital of Spokane from Kentucky-based Humana. Within three years of the close of the $4.1 million purchase, a $15.5 million addition to the hospital would be completed and the facility would change its name to Valley Hospital and Medical Center.

1982
Buell J. “Skip” Felts, a 26-year-old certified public accountant and a member of one of the Spokane Valley's most prominent families, pleads guilty to hiring a friend from West Valley High School to murder his grandmother. Prosecutors said Geraldine Lockwood was killed with a baseball bat so Felts and his brother, James “Jud” Felts, could receive a $45,000 inheritance. Skip Felts was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

1983
The Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce announced it would raise $20,000 to pay for a study of local government options for the Valley. Options to be studied included incorporation of a new city, annexation by the city of Spokane, consolidation of some or all aspects of city and county government, and adoption of a home rule charter.

1984
The state Board of Health agreed to a one-year delay on its threatened moratorium on construction in the Valley while the county gets its multimillion-dollar sewer construction project off the ground. Within the following year, the county would complete a 16-mile-long interceptor line through the Valley.

1985
After 24 years in office, Millwood Mayor W.L. Clearwater retired. He was replaced by Harry Batson, who won a runoff against fellow town councilman Clarence O. Pence.

1986
A city-county commission working on plans for celebrating the Washington statehood centennial in 1989 heard a presentation from a Valley group proposing to build a biking and jogging trail along the Spokane River. “There's so much sizzle to this project that it might help carry a county parks bond issue,” one commission member said after listening to the trail presentation.

1987
A last-minute legal challenge against plans to build a $60 million regional mall at Liberty Lake claimed the environmental impact statement for the project failed to address certain environmental, social and economic impacts on the Valley and downtown Spokane. University City Shopping Center owner Harry Magnuson denied involvement in the appeal, but said he supports the effort to derail the project.

1988
MeadowWood, the county's second golf course at Liberty Lake, opened for play and draws raves. “I think Spokane is going to really enjoy a course like this,” said Theresa Schreck, an LPGA Futures player who fired an opening-day 77 from the championship tees. “It's like a taste of Scotish golf.”

1989
The Spokane County Parks and Recreation Department and the Spokane Valley Kiwanis hosted an open house at the new Camp Caro Lodge to celebrate completion of the 2,100-square-foot log building in the Dishman Hills Natural Area.

1990
Valley residents overwhelmingly rejected an incorporation proposal that would have formed Chief Joseph, a Valleywide city with a population of 90,000. Only 33.7 percent of voters favored forming the the Valley city. Incorporation proposals would be before Valley voters again in 1994, 1995 and 1996.

1991
A wind-whipped October wildfire swept through the hilly and heavily-treed Ponderosa neighborhood. Hundreds of families were ordered to evacuate, although some people stayed behind to fight the blaze. Within hours, 15 homes in the neighborhood were destroyed. All were rebuilt.

1992
Employees at Halpin's Pharmacy, a 50-year business fixture in the Valley, bought the store from longtime owners Frank Terhaar and Gary Christensen through an employee stock ownership plan. All 35 Halpin's employees participated in the deal.

1993
Representatives of several neighborhood associations that actively fought development proposals on their own formed Valley Allied Neighborhoods, in order to share information and expertise in dealing with community growth issues.

1994
A new Albertson's supermarket opened on East Trent Avenue on a site formerly occupied by West Valley High School and, later, Argonne Junior High. A year later, the West Valley High Class of '45 celebrated its 50-year reunion at the supermarket.

1995
The Valley's Walk in the Wild Zoo, once described by a national magazine as the worst zoo in the United States, closed. An effort to build a new facility at Silverwood theme park in North Idaho, and move the animals there, failed and the animals were eventually euthanized or moved to other zoos.

1996
After a decade of planning and positioning by competing shopping center developers, Salt Lake City-based JP Realty won the Valley mall war and broke ground near Sullivan Road and Interstate 90 for the new Spokane Valley Mall. A year later, more than 3,000 opening-day shoppers checked out the new stores and the towering palm trees lining the mall.

1997
In perhaps their greatest-ever collective showing in athletics, the Spokane Valley's four high schools combined to win five state prep championships: Central Valley's football title, East Valley's wrestling and girls cross country titles, University's boys cross country title and West Valley's girls basketball title.

1998
A huge crowd of mourners gathered for the funeral of civic activist Denny Ashlock, who was the driving force behind the cleanup of Liberty Lake, the construction of the Centennial Trail, formation of a 911 emergency telephone system in the Valley and the planning for the Mirabeau Point community complex. Ashlock, 59, died unexpectedly at his vacation home near Ocean Shores, Wash.

1999
Construction began on the long-delayed new freeway interchange at Evergreen Road, as well as widening of Interstate 90 through much of the Valley. The interchange will serve the Spokane Valley Mall and nearby retail centers, as well as the planned Mirabeau Point community complex.

2000:
After nine years of conflict, compromise and construction, the new $18.9 million Valley couplet finally opens. Commuters love the couplet, which routes eastbound traffic from I-90's Sprague interchange to University Road via the new four-lane Appleway Boulevard and westbound traffic along Sprague Avenue. But many Sprague merchants complain that the revised traffic pattern is hurting their business.

2001:
With just one day to spare, Valley incorporation backers turn in the petition signatures they need to get the matter back before voters. A fall election is planned, but the city of Spokane's appeal of a Boundary Review Board decision to include the tax-rich Yardley commercial and industrial area in the proposed new Valley city delays that vote until 2002.

WANT TO READ MORE HISTORY?
This timeline was compiled with help from Florence Boutwell, author of a three-volume history of the Spokane Valley. Boutwell's books "The Spokane Valley/A History of the Early Years," "A History of the Growing Years 1921-1945" and "Out in the Gravel," were published by the Arthur H. Clark Co. of Millwood and are available at most area book stores.

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