Spokane Real Estate Listings of Houses and Homes for Sale in Spokane County, Washington

Spokane

Riverfront Park is Spokane's centerpiece. This 100-acre park in the center of the city was the site of Expo 74, Spokane's successful world's fair in that year. Now, it is a green space with a variety of attractions and events throughout the year and is a primary gathering place for the community. During the winter months, residents come together to sing carols and light the town's Christmas tree. The warmer months are always busy with a full schedule of outdoor entertainment events in the park. On the Fourth of July, residents gather for spectacular fireworks displays. The entertainment pavilion is the location for amusement rides, mini-golf, the ice rink, and the IMAX theatre. The city's prized possession is the Looff Carousel in Riverfront Park. This 1909 antique comprised of 54 hand-carved horses is a joyful piece of Spokane's past that continues to delight people of all ages. Riverfront Park offers spectacular viewing areas of the mighty Spokane River and Falls.

Other Spokane parks include Manito Park on the city's South Hill featuring the Duncan Garden, Rose Garden, Lilac Garden, Japanese Garden, and the Conservatory, as well as ponds, play fields, and picnic areas. Riverside State Park offers another view of the Spokane River with wilderness-like natural trails, picnic areas, and camping facilities just minutes from the downtown area.

One of the area's finest attractions is the Spokane River Centennial Trail. Near completion, the trail is a 39-mile long path, up to 12 feet wide, and paved for use by runners, walkers, and bicycles. The trail is closed to all motorized traffic and begins at the confluence of the Spokane and Little Spokane Rivers and ends at the Washington/Idaho border. Most of the trail from the downtown area to the Idaho state line is now completed. The trail connects to the Idaho Centennial Trail for an additional leg into downtown Coeur d'Alene that is under final planning and construction.

Other attractions in the Spokane area include the newly completed Museum of Arts and Culture, formerly the Cheney Cowles Museum, with its excellent regional history exhibits, art exhibitions and Native American Indian artifacts, and the Fairchild Air Force Base Heritage Museum with an extensive display of Air Force memorabilia and aircraft.

Spokane is also a cultural center with numerous art galleries and performing arts events. The Spokane Opera House is home to the Spokane Symphony Orchestra, traveling Broadway shows, and top name entertainment. The Metropolitan Performing Arts Center is a more intimate setting for smaller performances of opera, jazz, plays, and musical events. The Spokane Civic Theatre, Interplayers Ensemble, and Valley Repertory Theatre each produce a series of stage plays during the year to round out the entertainment opportunities in the community.

Four colleges and universities and two community colleges add to the cultural atmosphere and provide a myriad of educational opportunities. Private colleges include Whitworth College and Gonzaga University. Eastern Washington University offers on-campus courses in Cheney, 15 miles from Spokane, as well as at their downtown Spokane center. Washington State University also has a branch campus in Spokane. Spokane Community College and Spokane Falls Community College, as well as several trade and technical schools, round out the educational offerings. All six academic institutions join together on the new Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute (SIRTI) which develops commercial applications for research conducted in academic environments as well as providing support for small and medium-sized businesses.

Spectator sports play a part in the Spokane experience. The Spokane Indians play a summer schedule of professional minor league baseball games at the Fairgrounds and the Spokane Chiefs take over the Coliseum ice in the winter months for hockey action with future stars of the NHL. Spokane will also host the Skate America competition in 2007, a triumph of which the city is especially proud, having beat out many larger cities vying to host the competition.

Beautiful, economical and challenging courses await golfers to the Spokane area. Municipal and County golf courses offer a variety of terrain and elevations. In all, there are 19 public courses within a 45-minute drive of Spokane. For those who embrace the great outdoors, Spokane is heaven's backyard with snow skiing, running, camping, fishing, hunting, and summer water sports being a part of the many activities available nearby. There are 7 ski areas within 2 1/2 hours of the city. Seventy-six lakes are located within 50 miles of Spokane. Rock climbing is right outside of town and wilderness adventures are minutes away.

Native Americans, called the "Spokanes," were the first to live along the banks of the Spokane River, where they fished for salmon. The meaning of the name Spokane (the original spelling did not contain an "e"), is "Children of the Sun" or "Sun People." Horseback riding through the area in 1873, James N. Glover, the man who is credited with being the "father" of Spokane, was "enchanted....overwhelmed...with the beauty and grandeur of everything." Determined to live in that magnificent setting, Glover purchased the rights to the land as well as a sawmill that J.J. Downing and Seth Scranton had constructed on the riverbank, and opened a store and stable. His early trade consisted mainly of Spokane and Coeur d'Alene Indians who made their home in the vicinity, fishing in the river and hunting the plentiful game. Prior to the coming of the settlers, the only white men the natives had seen were the occasional explorers, fur traders and soldiers traveling the trails, or the various missionaries in the region.

The discovery of rich silver and lead deposits in northern Idaho and British Columbia, the vast forests and the fertile soil encouraged settlement. Immigrants were enticed by the advertising promotions of the Northern Pacific Railroad, which arrived in 1881 and linked trans-continentally in 1883. By 1889, the year Washington Territory became Washington State, the town's population had swelled to nearly 20,000.

Now Spokane is the largest city between Seattle and Minneapolis, and is the second largest city in the state. The Spokane metropolitan area population now stands at 418,000 and stretches from the downtown area to the Washington/Idaho border. The Indian fishing grounds on the Spokane River are now Riverfront Park, the site of the 1974 World's Fair. Spokane is the smallest city ever to host a World's Fair. Fishermen still fish off the bridges in Riverfront Park. In 1977, Spokane was one of the U.S. cities to be designated an "All American City," and in 2004 Spokane continues its reign again being named an "All American City."