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Of these "improvements," which consisted of tracks, rail yards, and Ironically say," but they expressed doubt whether anybody could be proud They noted sardonically that the areaĪround the falls had already been "partially 'improved,' as one might Inġ908, the famous Olmsted Brothers Landscape Architecture firm devised a planįor Spokane's parks in which they noted that the falls were "a tremendousįeature of the landscape, and one which is rarer in a large city than river, The Spokane Indians established salmon camps at itsīase and the earliest settlers were attracted to its majesty and waterpower. Trestles the "Chinese Wall" (Youngs, 107). Spokane people jokingly called the railroad Tracks and the big depots that served them effectively cut downtown Spokane offįrom its most spectacular natural asset: the rushing Spokane River and its High on ugly steel viaducts, which created the second, related problem. Happening in this day and age, but it was happening every day, all the And you’d see the end of the train coming, coming, coming, comingĪnd just as you're ready to cross - load her up and get going - the whole thing "Those trains would be moving freightĪnd you would get your car down on Howard Street at one of those trainĬrossings. Much a small town, hick outfit," said Neal Fosseen (1908-2004), Spokane'sĪll mixed up," said King Cole. Running right through the middle of downtown, stopping traffic, you are pretty
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1923) Spokane's mayor at the time, said, "Reduced to its essentials, we gave a great big party and the rest of the world came and paid the bill" (Youngs, 503).Ĭentury, Spokane desperately needed to solve two daunting urban problems.įirst, a set of railroad tracks bisected the heart of the city, creating After the fair closed, the site was revamped to become Riverfront Park, today the city's downtown showcase and gathering spot. Under the leadership of King Cole (1922-2010), a veteran of urban renewal projects, Spokane made the audacious decision to host a world's fair and then convert the downtown site into a public park. The original impetus of the fair was to clean up and reclaim the land alongside the mighty falls of the Spokane River, which for decades had been clogged with railroad tracks, trestles, and warehouses. Ten countries, including the Soviet Union, Japan, and the United States, along with many states and corporations, hosted pavilions on the 100-acre site. With a population of only 170,000, Spokane was the smallest city ever to hold a world's fair, yet it attracted almost 5.2 million visitors. Expo '74, Spokane's World's Fair, was an international exposition held from May 4 to November 3, 1974, in Spokane.