Affixed to the east side of the Spokesman-Review newspaper’s production building at 1 North Monroe Street are the bronze busts of 12 early business and community leaders who influenced the development of Spokane. The sculptures, commissioned by The Spokesman-Review in 2002 and created by Walla Walla sculptor Wayne Chabre, are a who’s who of the city’s movers and shakers in the late 19th and early 20th century. Officially known as “the “Builders and Leaders,” some have tragic stories to tell while others are steeped in controversy—but all of these figures inarguably had an impact on the founding of Spokane.
A favorite of Spokane schoolteachers (especially for state and local history curriculum), this 60-minute, one block guided tour is guaranteed to leave visitors with a stronger sense of community and civic pride. Learn how Spokane’s one-time patron saint fell from grace and became an outlaw, how a railroad engineer and a boarding house operator became millionaire mine owners and women’s rights activists, how a conspiracy cheated Spokane’s namesake—a respected elder, teacher and peacemaker—out of his land, and how the skeletons in the closet of one of the city’s most revered founders cast a shadow on his legacy over a hundred years later. There’s no shortage of interest and intrigue in this action-packed hour!