Spokane County Washington (Page 2) has 50 places on the National Register of Historic Places including 2 places of National significance and 4 places of Statewide significance. Significant places include Hutton Building, Natatorium Carousel, Holley-Mason Building, Hutton Settlement and Marycliff-Cliff Park Historic District.
Many famous people are associated with these Spokane County historic places including Charles I.D. Looff, May Arkwright Hutton, Eugene B. Hyde, Lord Stanley Hallett, F. Rockwood Moore and Sen. George Turner.
Some of the country's most noteable architects helped create the Spokane County places including Hubbel & Dow, Charles I.D. Looff, Kirtland Kelsey Cutter, Albert Held, J.C. Ralston, Harold C. Whitehouse, Ernest V. Price, William F. Zimmerman, Herbert Held and William Bowman. Prominent architectural styles found in Spokane Country are Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals, Bungalow/Craftsman and Queen Anne.
Historic Significance:
Person, Architecture/Engineering
Architect, builder, or engineer:
Hubbel & Dow
Architectural Style:
Early Commercial, Classical Revival
Historic Person:
Multiple
Significant Year:
1910, 1907
Area of Significance:
Politics/Government, Architecture, Commerce, Social History
Period of Significance:
1900-1924
Historic Function:
Commerce/Trade, Domestic
Historic Sub-function:
Business, Single Dwelling
Current Function:
Commerce/Trade
The Hutton Building, located at 9 South Washington Street in Spokane, Washington, is a distinguished four-story commercial structure designed by the prominent Spokane architect Albert Held. Originally constructed in 1907 as a single-story building to house the offices of mining magnate Levi W. Hutton, it was expanded to its current four-story height in 1910 to accommodate the city's rapidly growing business sector. The building is an exceptional local example of Commercial Style architecture with Chicago School influences, characterized by its classical tripartite facade, robust red brickwork, expansive "Chicago window" bays, and refined terra cotta detailing. Reflecting the peak of Spokane's early 20th-century building boom, the structure stands as a testament to the period of intensive urban development fueled by regional mining and railroad wealth.
Beyond its architectural significance, the Hutton Building is highly historically significant for its direct association with Levi W. Hutton and his wife, May Arkwright Hutton, two of the most influential civic leaders, philanthropists, and progressive reformers in Pacific Northwest history. Having amassed a fortune as co-owners of the legendary Hercules Mine in Idaho's Coeur d'Alene district, the Huttons used the building as the nerve center for their vast financial, mining, and real estate enterprises. May Arkwright Hutton, a pioneering suffragist, labor advocate, and political activist, utilized their prominence to champion women's right to vote in Washington. Following her death, Levi Hutton used his office in the building to manage and fund the creation of the Hutton Settlement, a revolutionary, cottage-style orphanage in the Spokane Valley. The Hutton Building remains a vital physical monument to the mining wealth that built Spokane and the enduring philanthropic legacy of the Hutton family.
Historic Significance:
Person, Event
Historic Person:
Looff,Charles I.D.
Significant Year:
1974, 1909
Area of Significance:
Art, Entertainment/Recreation, Commerce, Social History
Period of Significance:
1900-1924
Historic Function:
Recreation And Culture
Current Function:
Recreation And Culture
The Natatorium Carousel, widely known today as the Looff Carrousel, is a premier masterpiece of early 20th-century American amusement craftsmanship and a cherished symbol of Spokane's recreation history. Created in 1909 by the pioneering carousel builder Charles I. D. Looff as a wedding present for his daughter, Emma, and her husband, Louis Vogel, the carousel became the centerpiece of Spokane's Natatorium Park. For nearly sixty years, this popular trolley park on the Spokane River served as the city's primary amusement destination, with the carousel anchoring its midway. Following the park's closure in 1968, the ride was preserved through community efforts and relocated in 1975 to the newly created Riverfront Park-the former site of the Expo '74 World's Fair-where it continues to operate in a custom-designed pavilion.
Artistically, the carousel is exceptionally significant as one of the most complete and well-preserved examples of the "Coney Island school" of carving. It features 54 hand-carved wooden horses, a giraffe, a tiger, a goat, and two ornate Chinese dragon chariots, all exhibiting the expressive, energetic poses, wind-blown manes, and jewel-encrusted trappings characteristic of Looff's work. It also retains its original, rare 1900 Ruth & Sohn brass band organ, which provides the traditional pipe organ music for riders. As a virtually intact survivor from the golden age of American carousels, the Natatorium Carousel stands as both an outstanding artistic achievement and a vital link to the social and cultural history of the Inland Northwest.