Fort George Wright

Fort George Wright Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Nearest city	Spokane, Washington
Coordinates	47°40′42″N 117°28′27″W / 47.67833°N 117.47417°WCoordinates: 47°40′42″N 117°28′27″W / 47.67833°N 117.47417°W
Area	250 acres (100 ha)
Built	1896, 120 years ago
Architect	U.S. Government
Architectural style	Colonial Revival, Queen Anne, Georgian Revival
NRHP Reference #	76001918 [1]
Added to NRHP	May 17, 1976

Fort George Wright is a land area in the northwest United States, located in Spokane, Washington. It is named after General George Wright, who had been stationed in the area.

In 1895, local residents purchased the area then known as Twickenham Park, which was deeded to the government for the construction of a military post. With Congress’ authorization, the $40,000 purchase of 1,022 acres (414 ha) was made in 1896.

Construction of the fort began in 1897 and it officially opened in 1899. Most of the buildings present were built between 1897 and 1906.

In 1909-1910 the fort was used to imprison members of the Industrial Workers of the World arrested during the Spokane Free Speech Fight.^[2]

Fort Wright was used for military purposes until 1957, when the government declared the fort surplus and gave educational facilities priority to purchase the property. Some of the land was used for Spokane Falls Community College in 1960.^[3][4]

In May 1976, the campus was listed as the Fort George Wright Historic District in the National Register of Historic Places. This was because on the site there is also located St. Michael's Mission; the building of 1882 was originally located near the Bigelow Gulch Road and was moved to the Fort Wright campus.

The Fort George Wright cemetery, a small square lot northwest of Fort George Wright, is also located on the land. It is managed by Fairchild AFB. It includes service men and families.

The original grass field for Memorial Stadium (now Joe Albi Stadium) was taken from the lush sod of the parade grounds at the fort in the summer of 1950.^[5][6][7]

External links

• History of Fort George Wright at HistoryLink

References

1. National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
2. John Duda (ed.), Wanted: Men to Fill the Jails of Spokane!: Fighting for Free Speech with the Hobo Agitatos of the I.W.W., Chicago: Charles H. Kerr, 2009, page 103.
3. "Spokane urged to build college at Fort Wright". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. July 14, 1960. p. 10.
4. Prager, Mike (April 11, 1989). "Fort George Wright offered for sale as park plan is studied". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. A1.
5. "Stadium to get turf from fort". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. July 21, 1950. p. 1.
6. "Sod for stadium". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. August 8, 1950. p. 1.
7. "Turf promises good playing field". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. August 18, 1950. p. 18.