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Diablo Dam incline railway climbing Sourdough Mountain, 1930. Courtesy Seattle Municipal Archives, 2306.
Children waving to ferry, 1950. Courtesy Museum of History and Industry.
Loggers in the Northwest woods. Courtesy Washington State Digital Archives.
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8/27/2026
Spokane House
Seventy-five years ago this September the grave of Jaco Finlay was located during an archaeological dig (shown above) at Spokane House, the trading post Finlay had sited and built in 1810. As was standard practice in archaeological excavations at the time, the artifacts and remains from the dig were stored at the Eastern Washington Historical Society, where they remained for the next two decades. In 1976, at the request of Finlay's descendants, his remains were reinterred in a ceremony near the site of the old bastion where he had first been buried more than a century before.
Jaco Finlay was a Canadian fur trader who worked as an advance scout for the North West Company of Canada. When Spokane House was built it became the first fur-trading post in the future state of Washington. Finlay and Finan Macdonald chose its location on the Spokane River due to the abundance of fish, game, and timber, as well as its proximity to the Spokane tribe. During his time there, Finlay welcomed many traders and visitors, including David Thompson, "Old Cox" – the first Hawaiian to visit the inland Northwest – and botanist David Douglas.
In 1821 the North West Company was merged into its longtime trading rival, the Hudson's Bay Company, which took over the operation of all the North West posts, including Spokane House. In 1826 Hudson's Bay decided to close Spokane House, and Finlay moved onto the site with his Indian wife and their family. After he died in 1828, he was buried there. Over time, the site fell into ruin and Finlay's grave was almost forgotten, until its discovery in 1951.
Spokane's Grand Hotel
On September 1, 1914, the Davenport Hotel opened in Spokane, providing the city with a grand hotel worthy of royalty. Thousands attended the gala opening-night festivities, including members of Montana's Blackfeet tribe – guests of the hotel who stayed in tepees pitched on the roof.
The new hotel was an adjunct of Davenport's Restaurant, Spokane's lavish dining establishment, which had been in operation since 1890. Both the restaurant and hotel were designed by Kirtland Cutter, the city's most noted architect. Cutter's fame extended throughout the state, and he designed such notable landmarks as Lakewood's Thornewood Castle, the Camp Lewis Liberty Gate, and Seattle's Stimson-Green Mansion and Rainier Club.
Over the years the Davenport has welcomed as guests presidents and movie stars, along with such other famous visitors as Charles Lindbergh and Queen Marie of Romania. Near the end of the twentieth century the Davenport was closed and under threat of demolition, but new owners in 2000 launched a $36 million restoration project that returned the hotel to its former elegance.
On August 28, 1907, teenage messengers Jim Casey and Claude Ryan established their own delivery business in Seattle, which they operated out of the basement of a Pioneer Square saloon. Funded with a $100 loan from Casey's uncle, their American Messenger Service proved to be a huge success, and has since grown to become United Parcel Service – the largest package delivery company in the world.
On August 30, 1909, the Viking, a replica longship constructed by Norwegian American boatbuilder Sivert Sagstad, landed at Seattle's Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in celebration of Norway Day. The boat sailed to California in 1915 for the Panama-Pacific Exposition, and later ended up in Balboa Park, where it was destroyed by fire in 1936.
On August 28, 1911, South Cle Elum incorporated in Kittitas County. Located across the Yakima River from the larger city of Cle Elum, South Cle Elum owes its start to the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad (the Milwaukee Road) which arrived in 1908 and built a depot, roundhouse, and rail yard. The burgeoning community quickly became a bustling rail center and division point, which led to its incorporation.
On the afternoon of September 1, 1957, approximately 6,000 rock 'n' roll fans – most of them teenage girls – attended an Elvis Presley concert at Tacoma's Lincoln Bowl. That evening, Elvis played to more than 16,200 fans at Sicks' Stadium, and many of those in attendance were all shook up. Four years later, Elvis returned in early September to begin filming It Happened at the World's Fair. He spent 10 days in the city, and even though the school year had just begun, screaming teenage girls were somehow able to follow him everywhere.
On August 30, 1968, hordes of hippies descended on Sultan, near the Skykomish River, for the Sky River Rock Festival, one of America's first multi-day, outdoor rock concerts. A second Sky River festival was held in Tenino a year later.
Four King County cities celebrate anniversaries on August 31. Shoreline became a city on that day in 1995 and Covington followed suit two years later. Kenmore incorporated on August 31, 1998, and Sammamish – a resort destination for many years – incorporated on August 31, 1999.
On August 30, 1914, the tugboat Lorne and the barge America foundered on the rocks in a heavy fog on the west side of San Juan Island and sank.
"Mr. Finlay had obligingly put my gun in good order, for which I presented him with a pound of tobacco, being the only article I had to give."
– David Douglas
