University Pharmacy

The building today known as University Pharmacy in the Gonzaga district of Spokane has served the community since its construction in 1909 by the Pioneer Educational Society (PES) and the Spokane Architectural firm, Preusse & Zittel. Over the years the building has housed such popular business's as the Snappy beer Parlor, Jack and Dan's Tavern, and of course, University Pharmacy.

The building was one among many others built in between 1894 and 1910 when the PES and Jesuits founded the Catholic neighborhood around the campus of Gonzaga College. Among the first buildings constructed during this period were the Holy Names Academy, St. Joseph's Orphanage, and the St. Aloysius Cathedral. The pharmacy building itself is a two-story red brick building fronting along the east side of Hamilton Street, on the southeast corner of Sharp Avenue. The first floor usually housed two business's until 2003, when the University Pharmacy closed and the building exclusively became Jack & Dan's. The second floor still functions to this day as two second-floor apartments.

Although this building has been used by a few different businesses, The building will probably be most well known for its association as Jack & Dan's Tavern. The tavern became popular with the community as the center of the Spokane sports scene. It served the Gonzaga community as a neighborhood gathering place for sports enthusiasts. Joey August, who owned the tavern in 1947, is largely responsible for making the tavern a hub for Spokane sports. A boxing coach for Gonzaga University, August made the tavern a popular sports bar in the 1950's. Over the years, the bar has served famous sports figures, including Tommy Lasorda, Spokane Indians baseball players, and Utah Jazz fans watching hometown hero John Stockton.

Jack & Dan's is one of only a few beer parlors that have run continuously since the repeal of prohibition in Washington in 1933.Even before it was Jack & Dan's, Snappy's Beer Service was one of thirty-five such parlors in 1934. Snappy's was the first business to occupy the building. According to local historians, Snappy's was a delivery service capable of delivering a "bucket of suds" by motorcycle to anyone within a 2 mile radius.

Since 1910, the building had housed a number of pharmacy's under different owners. The University Pharmacy was founded in 1939 and continued on until its close in 2003. The closing of this pharmacy ended 83 years of pharmacy service to the Gonzaga neighborhood. The closing of the store exemplifies the end of locally-owned pharmacies in Spokane and the switch to supermarket and drug store chains which became dominant.

The residents of Spokane may know the place under all its names, Snappy's, Joey's, Jack & Dan's, or University Pharmacy, but to generations of Gonzaga students it was essentially gathering place. The building was built when the city of Spokane was in a state of construction. It survived the prohibition of the 1920's and emerged as a popular sports hub for Gonzaga sports. Before its close in 2003, as always, students still flocked there to watch the game.

By association with John Stockton, Jack & Dan's is home to many Utah Jazz fans

Joey August in his days as a professional boxer

Present day

The northern (left) half of the building used to house University Pharmacy

Architectural detail

a short history of the bar on the menu

Old photograph of the building when it still housed University pharmacy

when it was known as Joey's tavern

Digital Preservation and The Polar Bear Expedition

Up until very recently, the records of humanity were recorded upon physical mediums. Stone, wood, papyrus, and animal skins, have all been used as a means for humans to record their everyday lives as well as their history. As we continue into the new age of 'digital revolution', we must recognize the direction historic preservation is going as well as gain an understanding of the new methods and tools of the field.

Floppy Disks were once the vision of the future.

This weeks readings examine the present state of digital preservation and the what the future may hold for it. One of the main concerns with the future of digital preservation is the ever changing formats in which we store our information. It is easy enough to comprehend when we observe the obsolete storage technology of the recent past like floppy disks. Jerome P. McDonough from Science Daily reports the possibility of a "Digital Dark Age" if efforts are not made to curb the fragility of the current digital storage medium. In order to avoid such a dark age, there must be a common storage method that crosses technological boundaries. This goal seems to be more and more in focus as our technology improves.

This weeks case study, the Polar Bear Expedition Digital Collections, a project launched by the University of Michigan, is used as an example of a digital collections database that has made efforts to incorporate updated digital technology to improve an already existing digital database.

The Polar Bear expedition

The field of digital preservation is expanding as the demand for digital archivists grows every year. An article by Conrad De Aenlle in the New York Times addresses this growth in the profession. The article predicts the eventual switch from traditional methods of library science, and analogue storage, to digital storage. As for the present, it seems historians must move with the times to keep up with the ever changing mediums of digital storage.

Dybdall Grist Mill

This antiquated building is the Dybdall Gristmill. Named after its owner and architect, O.C. Dybdall. The Norwegian immigrant built the mill in 1897 after buying the property from the previous owners, Fred Wagner and Henry Hinkney. The mill was operated by Dybdall and his family throughout the early decades of the twentieth century before finally closing down in 1955. The mill provided high quality flour to the Spokane area and, though severely antiquated, still stands as a relic to the history of Pacific Northwest agriculture.

After buying the property from the previous owners who had built a sawmill on it, Ole C. Dybdall built the grist mill while continuing to operate the sawmill as well. The architecture of the grist mill is basic in its construction. It is a three story building with a square frame, 30 feet on each side, with a saltbox roof. The site of the mill still houses the equipment which was used to process the flour. It is a complex layout that suggests a multi-stage operation that required some technical skill to service. Some of the parts you may find left behind include a grain scourer, rolling grinders, and other modifications which enabled the mill to run quickly and efficiently. In 1925, an auxiliary gas engine was added to the mill, replacing the previous power supply, a water driven turbine.

The grist mill Is is located on Rock Creek near the south end of Chapman Lake, a spasrley populated area when Dybdall first settled there. Dybdall operated the grist mill with his wife Annie and son, Ole C. Dybdall, Jr., until his death in 1919 at the age of 60. When in service, the mill provided finely ground flour to the Spokane and Cheney area, producing up to 30 barrels a day in the 1920's and 1930's. Despite its small size in comparison to larger industrial mills at the time, the Dybdall mill was well known for the exceptional quality of its flour. Large increases in grain production caused the larger mills to take precedent to the smaller Dybdall mill. However, the eight stage grinding process of the Dybdall mill allowed it to thrive as custom order grist mill, producing higher quality flour than that of the bigger mills which used a six stage process.

The grist mill closed down in 1955 after a long and productive life. The mill is significant in the context of the history of Pacific Northwest agriculture. It is one of the few remaining grist mills found anywhere in Washington state, most having been dismantled or destroyed by the elements.

The three story grist mill used to produce high quality flour
Photo by Jesse Tinsley, Spokesman Review

the ruins of the once resourceful mill
Photo by Jesse Tinsley, Spokesman Review

Courtesy of the WA state Digital Archives

Courtesy of the WA state Digital Archives 

Courtesy of the WA state Digital Archives

Courtesy of the WA state Digital Archives

Courtesy of the WA state Digital Archives

Courtesy of the WA state Digital Archives

Courtesy of the WA state Digital Archives

Data Mining with Old Bailey On-line

This weeks readings deal concept of data visualization. Shawn Allen defines this term to be quite literal in its meaning: "the visual representation of quantitative data." Historians as well as researchers from other areas of the humanities have always used data to elaborate an heighten their research projects. Ever since the development of personal computers and the internet however, the methods and tools in which researchers gather data has changed dramatically, and still is. The main focus of this week's topic is understanding the history of data visualization by examining a very useful online resource, The Proceedings of the OLD BAILEY.

The Old Bailey Proceedings website was created to allow historians and really, anyone with an interest, to research the criminal cases of the common people who lived in London, anywhere from 1674-1913. The interesting aspect of this site is the fine toothed search engine which allows the user to search by manner of crime, from common theft to attempted sodomy. It can also search by offence and punishment. The true beauty of the site is discovering the often times brutal nature of punishments, whether it be whipping, burning, pillory, or hanging.

The site represents a successful addition to the world of digital research, by combining sophisticated search techniques with supplemental historical background. The site has since become a tool used by teachers to present to their students. The Old Bailey Proceedings online is not the only online database. One of my personal favorites is the Perseus Digital Library created by Tufts University, which is dedicated to putting the corpus of classical literature  online in the original languages, for free.

The History of Humanites Computing by Susan Hockey, has demonstrated the rapid growth of the digital tools and methods of research from the invention of computing down to the present day. The relatively short period between this invention and now has proved that the world of historic research has changed and is still changing.

The National Hotel

The National Hotel was built in 1905 and is a typical example of the "single room occupancy" type of building, which was a popular style in Spokane at the time. The building is indicative of the SRO style, featuring symmetrically balanced exterior fenestration patterns, street-level retail bays, and a separate street-level entrance that led to upper-story hotel rooms.

The National Hotel is significant to commercial and social history of Spokane.The hotel was built in the midst of Spokane's largest period of growth during the early twentieth century. At this time Spokane saw a huge influx of working class men and women due to the city's growing reputation as a resource and transportation center for lumber, agriculture and mining. Historian Orville Pratt said of Spokane's population boom "so many men were thronging in that the hotels and lodging houses could not care for them." Craig Holstine in his work, Single Occupancy Hotels in the Central Business District of Spokane, Washington, 1900 to 1910, explains that hotel and apartment construction peaked from 1900 to 1910, but after that time, construction of working class housing all but ceased. the population influx resulted in a building boom which sparked the construction of SROs throughout the Spokane region.

The building was first built for prominent Spokane pioneer, local businessman, and politician, Huber Rasher and his wife Margaret. When the National Hotel was built in 1905, it had a total of forty-two single occupancy hotel rooms on the second and third floors of the building. From the time of its construction until the mid-1950's, the storefronts of the building housed a variety of saloons, taverns, cafes, restaurants, and meat and grocery markets. During and after prohibition, the hotel saloon was occupied by "confectioners".

In 1967, a portion of the commercial building block was demolished, leaving the east half of the building intact. The National Hotel retains its identifying features as an SRO property type. The original location, design, and workmanship are still exhibited in such features as the building's three-story rectangular commercial block form, and its unreinforced brick masonry construction.

Present day

Architectural detail

The eastern half of the building was demolished in 1967.

Holy Names Academy

This impressive building is The Holy Names Academy. Originally built in 1891 by Architect, Patrick Donohoe, the building was later remodeled by the Spokane Architect firm, Preusse & Zittel, who designed the north and south wings in 1903. The Academy served the Spokane area as a girls private school for over 80 years until 1975, when declining enrollments led to its close. The Holy Names Academy is a significant monument to the educational history of Spokane and the Inland Northwest.

The Academy was born out of the works of the Sisters of the Holy Name, a Catholic order founded in Quebec in 1844. "The purpose behind the order was to provide Christian education to children in remote areas of Canada." The order expanded into the Pacific Northwest by 1859, and successfully established an Academy in Portland, Oregon. In 1880, the Sisters opened an Academy in Seattle.
In 1888, the Sisters sent members to Spokane to open up a school at the request of Father Joseph Cataldo. The Jesuit priest saw the need for an institution for women in Spokane that was similar to the recently opened, Gonzaga College.

On August 31, 1891, the Holy Names Academy opened with 12 students. Upon the opening ceromony, the presiding Reverend Leopold Van Gorp, S J. told those assembled, "Nowwhere will your children be able to receive such an intellectual and moral training as at the hands of the Sisters who have devoted their lives to such an object not from mercenary motives, but from their love of God and from motives of charity."

Enrollment to the Academy grew and by 1903 the number of students had grown large enough to prompt the Sister to hire the Preusse & Zittel firm to design two new wings to Patrick Donohoe's original layout. An amendment to Washington State's school laws in 1907 enabled the Sister's to establish private normal schools at the Academy. The Academy received accreditation by the State Board of Education on December, 31, 1907, making it the first private normal school in Washington State.

Architecturally, this building reflects Victorian institutional design in Spokane. The original architect, Patrick Donohoe was a practicing architect in Spokane from the years 1888-1891. The building was improved in 1903 by German immigrants Herman Preusse and Julius Zittel, who had a partnership in Spokane from 1893 to 1910. These architects are also responible for a number of other works in Spokane such as St. Aloysius's church, several Gonzaga buildings, Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral, as well as several residences in the city's South Hill and Brown's addition neighborhoods.

Present day

Architectural detail

The building now functions as a retirement community 

Postcard

C. 1890
From The City Beautiful: Spokane, Washington

C. 1905 map of Spokane with Holy Names Academy inset.
Courtesy of the Library of Congress