United States Post Office, Courthouse, and Custom House (Spokane, Washington)

Spokane ( (listen) spoh-KAN) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, 92 miles (148 km) south of the Canadian border, 18 miles (30 km) west of the Washington–Idaho border, and 279 miles (449 km) east of Seattle, along I-90. Spokane is the economic and cultural center of the Spokane metropolitan area, the Spokane–Coeur d'Alene combined statistical area, and the Inland Northwest. It is known as the birthplace of Father's Day, and locally by the nickname of "Lilac City". Officially, Spokane goes by the nickname of Hooptown USA, due to Spokane annually hosting Spokane Hoopfest, the world's largest basketball tournament. The city and the wider Inland Northwest area are served by Spokane International Airport, 5 miles (8 km) west of Downtown Spokane. According to the 2010 census, Spokane had a population of 208,916, making it the second-largest city in Washington, and the 101st-largest city in the United States. At the 2020 census, Spokane's population was 228,989. A 2021 estimate sets the population of the Spokane Metropolitan Area at 593,466.The first people to live in the area, the Spokane tribe (their name meaning "children of the sun" in Salishan), lived off plentiful game. David Thompson explored the area with the westward expansion and establishment of the North West Company's Spokane House in 1810. This trading post was the first long-term European settlement in Washington. Completion of the Northern Pacific Railway in 1881 brought settlers to the Spokane area. The same year it was officially incorporated as a city under the name of Spokane Falls (it was re-incorporated under its current name ten years later). In the late 19th century, gold and silver were discovered in the Inland Northwest. The local economy depended on mining, timber, and agriculture until the 1980s. Spokane hosted the first environmentally themed World's fair at Expo '74. Many of the downtown area's older Romanesque Revival-style buildings were designed by architect Kirtland Kelsey Cutter after the Great Fire of 1889. The city is also home to the Riverfront and Manito parks, the Smithsonian-affiliated Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, the Davenport Hotel, and the Fox and Bing Crosby theaters. The Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane, and the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist serves as that of the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane. The Spokane Washington Temple in the east of the county serves the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Gonzaga University was established in 1887 by the Jesuits, and the private Presbyterian Whitworth University was founded three years later and moved to north Spokane in 1914. The city's western suburb of Airway Heights is home to Fairchild Air Force Base as well as two large casino hotels. In sports, the region's professional and semi-professional sports teams include the Spokane Indians in Minor League Baseball and Spokane Chiefs in junior ice hockey. The Gonzaga Bulldogs collegiate basketball team competes at the Division I level. As of 2010, Spokane's major daily newspaper, The Spokesman-Review, had a daily circulation of over 76,000.

A fair sized Chinatown existed in Spokane for years that started when the railroad came through in 1883. It consisted of a network of alleys between Front Avenue (today's Spokane Falls Boulevard) and Main Avenue that stretched east from Howard Avenue to Bernard Street for approximately four blocks. The Chinese population gradually thinned out until the alley became abandoned by the 1940s. Virtually all that remained of the Chinatown alleys were demolished as part of construction projects spurred by Spokane's Expo '74.

The Diocese of Spokane is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the U.S. state of Washington. Headquartered in Spokane, the diocese encompasses Okanogan, Ferry, Stevens, Pend Oreille, Lincoln, Spokane, Adams, Whitman, Franklin, Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin Counties. Its cathedral is the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes in Spokane. On March 12, 2015, the Holy See announced Thomas Anthony Daly, the first auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of San José, to be the seventh Bishop of Spokane. Canonically erected on December 17, 1913, the territories of the diocese were taken from what was then known as Diocese of Seattle. The diocese is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Seattle; its metropolitan bishop is Paul Etienne. Approximately 90,000 Catholics in Washington state are served by the Diocese. There are 82 parishes in the diocese.

The Spokesman-Review is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Spokane, Washington, the city's sole remaining daily publication. It has the third-highest readership among daily newspapers in the state, with most of its readership base in eastern Washington and northern Idaho.

The Review Building is a historic six-story building in Spokane, Washington. It was designed in the Romanesque Revival style, and built with terra cotta in 1891 to house the offices of The Spokesman-Review. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since February 24, 1975.

The Empire State Building, also known as the Great Western Savings and Loan Building, is a historic building in Downtown, Spokane, Washington. It was designed by architect John K. Dow, and built in 1899 for Charles Sweeny, an investor who had served under Union Army General George Armstrong Custer during the American Civil War of 1861–1865. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since August 18, 1977.

The Davenport Hotel is a hotel located in Spokane, Washington. Originally a successful high-end restaurant, it is one of the possible places where the first Crab Louis (reportedly named after Louis Davenport) was created and served. The hotel was designed by architect Kirtland Cutter and built in 1914 for $2 million ($54.1 million in 2021 dollars) with an opulent lobby and new amenities for the time such as air conditioning, a central vacuum system, pipe organ, and dividing doors in the ballrooms. Commissioned by a group of Spokane businessmen to have a place to host and entertain their guests, the hotel is named after Louis Davenport, an influential businessman and the first proprietor and overseer of the project. The hotel underwent expansions in 1917 and 1929 and in 1925, it became the broadcast studio for the newly relocated KHQ radio station. Davenport bought out all other interests in the hotel and became sole owner of the property in 1928 and owned the hotel until 1945, when he sold the hotel. After changing hands many times, the hotel was remodeled and re-positioned as a motel in the early 1960s. After another change in ownership in 1967 and their subsequent bankruptcy, the hotel was foreclosed on and the property slowly fell into disrepair. After several attempts at renovation by various groups, the property was facing demolition by the mid 1980s. In 2002, the hotel was bought for $6.5 million and completely restored in a $38 million ($57.2 million in 2021 dollars) renovation by developers Walt and Karen Worthy, reopening on July 15, 2002. The Davenport Hotel has 284 guest rooms and is rated as a Four-Diamond hotel by the American Automobile Association and as a 5-star hotel by the Northstar Travel Group. The hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, and today it operates under the name The Historic Davenport Hotel within The Davenport Hotel Collection brand along with its three sister hotels and is affiliated with Marriott as part of their Autograph Collection Hotels chain.

The Fox Theater in Spokane, Washington is a 1931 Art Deco movie theater that now serves as a performing arts venue and home of the Spokane Symphony. It was designed by architect Robert C. Reamer, notable for his design of the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park. It was part of the Fox Film Corporation Empire founded by studio mogul William Fox. The theater opened September 3, 1931 and showed films continuously until it closed September 21, 2000 after an engagement of the movie Gladiator starring Russell Crowe.

Bing Crosby Theater is a performing arts theater located in Spokane, Washington which was designed by theater architect Edwin W. Houghton. The theater was originally built in 1914 as an 800-seat movie theater called Clemmer Theater. Between May and October 1925, local singer Bing Crosby was a regular performer at the theater.Over the years the theater fell into disrepair until it was purchased by a local company in 1988 and refurbished. The theater was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in December 1988. It was re-opened as the Metropolitan Performing Arts Center and was used for concerts, lectures, and movies. The Met was purchased by local businessman Mitch Silver in 2004 and in 2006 renamed after Bing Crosby when a local historian noticed that the city did not have any landmarks named after the multimedia star, who grew up in Spokane.

The Peyton Building and Peyton Annex is a historic seven-story building and annex in Spokane, Washington. The building was designed by Cutter & Malmgren, and built in 1898. It was built on the site of a former building known as the Great Eastern Building, designed by Herman Preusse and completed in 1890. The annex was designed by Robert Sweatt, and built in 1908. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since March 15, 2005.

The Montvale Hotel is a boutique hotel in Spokane, Washington. Originally built in 1889 as an SRO (Single Room Occupancy Hotel), the Montvale Hotel also served Spokane as an apartment building, a brothel, and as a youth hostel during Expo '74 and then was abandoned for 30 years. It was restored and re-opened in January 2005 as a 36-room boutique hotel, becoming one of Spokane's premier hotels with The Davenport Hotel and the Hotel Lusso. With the demolition of the Pennington Wing at the Davenport Hotel, the Montvale gained the distinction as Spokane's oldest hotel. Kilmer and Son's Hardware was located on buildings' main floor for over 60 years. Kilmer once employed Henry J. Kaiser. Currently located in the same building as the Montvale Hotel is Scratch Restaurant and is located on the street level of the building.

River Park Square is a shopping mall and entertainment complex in Spokane, Washington. The shopping center was originally opened in 1974. Following years of decline, the center was redeveloped in 1999 using public and private funds in an effort to revitalize downtown Spokane. The mall, still privately owned by Cowles Company, is anchored by Nordstrom and contains an outpost of AMC Theatres.