Car Tours of Washington (and beyond): Patsy Clark Mansion, Spokane Washington, Part 1 of many

Patsy Clark Mansion, Spokane Washington

Part the First, Introduction -- 1889 The Great Spokane Fire

Before we get to the mansion, we need to get some background first. What happened which prompted Clark to rebuild his home?

You have all heard of the Great Fire of Chicago, right? You know, the one where the cow kicked over the lantern causing a fire that burned down most of the city? Well, would you believe that Spokane also had one such fire. Not sure that a cow was involved here, but I can tell you a story about one man's sequelae from that cataclysmic event.

Video from Spokane Historical website

narrated and edited by Anna Harbine

Patsy Clark was apparently unfazed by the loss of his original mansion in that fire. He set out to build another one, one that was even more of a mansion -- more glorious; more elaborate. He hired famous architect Kirtland Kelsey Cutter (This is the man who actually rebuilt most of the burnt out homes and buildings in Spokane (HauntedHouses.com, 2004-2019). Clark gave Cutter instructions to spare no expense, to use nothing but the best materials to make this "the most luxurious mansion ever" (Boggs, 2004), (Prager, 2006).

This fabulous mansion is at 2208 West Second Avenue in the Browne's Addition of Spokane. I don't have any idea what the original house was like. If you know, contact me using the form on the right, okay? Thanks.

A building in the Spokane Fire
Spokane Historical
Anna Harbine

The exact date of completion is a bit confusing. The City of Spokane placed the mansion on the Spokane Register of Historical Places, recording the completion date of the construction as 1897 (City of Spokane, 2005), while the Patsy Clark Mansion website itself claims completion was in 1889. Regardles of when it was completed, it is said the 12,000 square foot home was the talk of the town (Patsy Clark Mansion, n.d.).

Great Spokane Fire of 1889

Building in Flames
Spokesman-Review, 2017

Headlines

The news of the Great Fire of Spokane came on the heels of the Great Fire of Seattle, and the Great Fire of Ellensburg the same year. Spokane was known at the time as Spokane Falls, changing it’s name to simply Spokane later. And Washington was not yet a state, but was a Territory. The headlines across the area read: The city of Spokane Falls, in Washington Territory, is burned to the ground by a fire which started last night. The disaster greater than Seattle’s. Spokane Falls Holocaust! Every Business Block Destroyed, excepting one. Property of the Value of $15,000,000 consumed. Many Lives Lost – one Man Literally Roasted Alive! The Magnificent City a Mass of Ruins – Business Section of the Town Entirely Destroyed – Millions of Dollars’ Worth of Property Swept Away – A Number of Lives Reported Lost.

Map of Spokane Fire, including 2nd Ave
Anna Harbine

Background

The population of Spokane at the time was 20,000 people (The Leavenworth Weekly Times, 1889). The summer had been uncommonly hot, and wildfire smoke from elsewhere in the region lay heavily on Spokane (Berger & Hegg, 2019).

The Spokane Chronicle re-opens, using a hand press
Camporeale, 2017

Start of the Fire

According to the last communication over the Western Union wires, the fire started at 6:45 pm, in the roof of a wood-frame lodging house on Railroad avenue (The Leavenworth Weekly Times, 1889). The Great Falls Montana newspaper indicates it “spread rapidly under the influence of a brisk wind, which increased in force every hour” (The Great Falls Leader, 1889). Other news accounts write that there was a dead calm and that the spectators thought the firemen would extinguish the fire quickly. Nobody is sure exactly how the fire started, and there are three theories. First, prostitute Irish Kate had a fight with a client in her room, tripping against her kerosene lamp, causing the fire when it fell over. A second theory is it started from a spark emitted while a train passed by the area. Or it could have been started while Bill Wolfe, owner of Wolfe’s Lunchroom and Lodgings was cooking pork chops when a greasy towel ignited, traveled up the stairs to the roof. It most definitely did start at this building, though (Discovery School, 2011).

"All the banks saved the money in the vaults and some resumed business
[in the] morning in the very brick building left"
Northwest Museum 2017

Water Works

The Holly System, which used hydrolics or steam to turn the turbines providing about 9 million gallons of water per day, was defective at the critical point in the fire. Everyone blamed the Superintendant who was away, and his incompetent man left in charge. Later investigation showed that Hose #2 was defective, couldn't handle the pressure (Discovery School, 2011).

American Society of Mechanical Engineers, n.d.

1889 Spokane Fire may have been caused by fire bugs?
The Topeka Daily Capital, 1889

Conflagration

The fire started, got out of control, and jumped to other buildings rather quickly. The heat generated by the massive fire created it’s own wind, and within 30 minutes the entrie block was gone (The Wichita Beacon, 1889). That was a massive fire, generating so much heat.

Anna Harbine
Spokane Historical

(Sanborn Map Company, 1889)

Rapidity of the fire

The fire spread so very rapidly, there had to be people who were cut off from escape before they even knew they were in danger. Two hours into the fire, about 9pm, 27 blocks were burned down (Discovery School, 2011). By 10pm, three hours after the fire started, it was done. The entire business section was destroyed. Thirty-two blocks were demolished … saving the lumber mill, the Crescent Dry Goods Store (which was scheduled to open the next day) and the Centenial Flour Mill which had opened only 36 hours earlier.

Anna Harbine
Spokane Historical

(Berger & Hegg, 2019)

Browning, 2015

King, 2017

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Resources:

American Society of Mechanical Engineers. (n.d.). #121 Holly Fire Protection and Water System. Retrieved January 2020, from The American Society of Mechanical Engineers: https://www.asme.org/about-asme/engineering-history/landmarks/121-holly-fire-protection-and-water-system

Arksey, L. (2006, March 20). Great Spokane Fire destroys downtown Spokane Falls on August 4, 1889. Retrieved January 2020, from History Link: https://www.historylink.org/File/7696

Berger, K., & Hegg, S. (2019, September 9). How Washington's 'summer of fire' nearly destroyed Seattle, Spokane and Ellensburg. Retrieved January 2020, from Crosscut Focus: https://crosscut.com/2019/09/how-washingtons-summer-fire-nearly-destroyed-seattle-spokane-and-ellensburg

Boggs, A. (2004, July 15). Patsy Clark's looks like a million. Retrieved December 13, 2019, from SpokesmanReview.com: https://web.archive.org/web/20071029212221/http://www.spokesmanreview.com/tools/story_pf.asp?ID=15707

Browning, J. (2015, January 14). The Great Spokane Fire of 1889. Retrieved January 2020, from Youtube -- Jarrett Browning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNEekSZ6BAA

Camporeale, L. (2017, September 6). #GreatFire1889. (L. Camporeale, Editor) Retrieved January 2020, from The Local History: http://thelocalhistory.com/stories/greatfire1889/

City - County of Spokane Historic Preservation Office. (no date). The 1890s: A Burgeoning City. Retrieved January 2020, from Historic Spokane: http://www.historicspokane.org/riverfront-park-history-1890

City of Spokane. (2005, December 2). Patsy Clark Mansion. Retrieved December 13, 2019, from Historic Preservation Department: https://web.archive.org/web/20060709175611/http://www.historicspokane.org/SpokaneRegister/patsyclark.htm

Discovery School. (2011, July 29). The Great Spokane Fire - 1889. Retrieved December 2020, from Spokane History Timeline: http://discoveryrobots.org/spokanehistory/greatfire.html

Libby, G. (1966). Remembering the Fire audio. Washington State Digital Archives. (A. Harbine, Editor) Spokane, Washington: Voices of the Pioneers Collection. Retrieved January 2020, from https://spokanehistorical.org/files/show/3614

Hart, M. (2012, May 7). Birdsill Holly, Jr. Retrieved January 2020, from The American Society of Mechanical Engineers: https://www.asme.org/topics-resources/content/birdsill-holly-jr

HauntedHouses.com. (2004-2019). Patsy Clark Mansion – HauntedHouses.com. Retrieved December 13, 2019, from HauntedHouses.com: https://ghost.hauntedhouses.com/washington_spokane_patsy_clark_mansion#

King, C. (2017, December 15). Chuck King's Guide to Spokane History - Ep2 The Crescent: "A Mural of Faces and Memories". Retrieved January 2020, from Youtube -- Nostalgia Magazine: https://youtu.be/a_PJ1CbfKdQ

Meekhof, M. (2017, December 6). “Meet Me Under the Clock” at the Crescent Department Store. Retrieved January 2020, from Nostalgia: http://www.nostalgiamagazine.net/2017/12/06/meet-me-under-the-clock-at-the-crescent-department-store/

Northwest Museum. (2017, August 5). #GreatFire1889 Live Tweet. Retrieved January 2020, from Twitter: https://twitter.com/NorthwestMuseum/status/893905696990875650

Prager, M. (2006, November 10). Historic Patsy Clark’s restored. Retrieved December 13, 2019, from The Spokesman-Review: https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2006/nov/10/historic-patsy-clarks-restored/

Sanborn Map Company. (1889, February). Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Spokane, Spokane County, Washington. Retrieved January 2020, from Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4284sm.g4284sm_g093311889/?r=-0.885,0,2.775,1.186,0

Spokesman-Review. (2017, 08 3). Building In Flames. Retrieved January 2020, from Spokesman-Review: https://media.spokesman.com/photos/2017/08/03/BuildingInFlames_t1200.jpg?298603a24e8d51915fce203907ff2746e482a5a6

Spracklen, J. (no date). Rising from the Ashes. Retrieved January 2020, from goSpokane: http://www.gospokanemagazine.com/the-great-fire.html

Stierer, D. (2020). Birdsill Holly. Retrieved January 2020, from Lockport Cave and Underground Boat Ride: https://lockportcave.com/birdsill-holly/

Stierer, D. (2020). The Holly Manufacturing Company 1858-1916. Retrieved January 2020, from Lockport Cave & Underground Boat Ride: https://lockportcave.com/holly-manufacturing/

The Garnett Republican-Plaindealer. (1889, August 9). 1889 Spokane Fire, Thirty Million. Retrieved December 2019, from The Garnett Republican-Plaindealer: newspapers.com

The Great Falls Leader. (1889, August 06). 1889 Spokane Fire, Spokane Falls Holocaust. Retrieved December 2019, from The Great Falls Leader: newspapers.com

The Leavenworth Weekly Times. (1889, August 8). 1889 Spokane Fire, Wiped Out. Retrieved December 2019, from The Leavenworth Weekly Times: newspapers.com

The Topeka Daily Capital. (1889, August 7). 1889 Spokane Fire, August 7. Retrieved December 2019, from Newspapers.com: newspapers.com

The Wichita Beacon. (1889, August 6). 1889 Spokane Fire. The Wichita Beacon. Wichita, Kansas. Retrieved December 2019, from newspapers.com

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24 January 2020

Patsy Clark Mansion, Spokane Washington, Part 1 of many