© Vincenzo Aiosa
Hotel Grand Coulee
Hotel Grand Coulee (Hotel Upton): Hotel Grand Coulee, now known as Hotel Upton in 1910. It was built during, and in response to, an unprecedented period of growth in Spokane’s history between 1900 and 1910, when it assumed its role as the regional distribution hub of the “Inland Empire.” It is a single Room Occupancy hotel (SRO). Like many other SROs that appeared in this region during this time period, the Hotel Upton was built to accommodate to the many laborers that came to Spokane to benefit from the expanding industries. “The Imperial Investment Co., headed by principle owner, manager, and Secretary Andrew Laidlaw, a mining and real estate investor, contracted prominent Spokane architect Loren L. Rand to design the building.” The Grand Coulee remains a typical SRO, however no longer operates as a Hotel. The ground floor was given over to commercial space and the upper floors for housing space. – Flickr – sexymansamson’s Photostream
The Hotel Upton is historically significant as a Single Room Occupancy hotel, or SRO, in Spokane’s central business district. It was built during, and in response to, an unprecedented period of growth in Spokane’s history between 1900 and 1910, when it assumed its role as the regional distribution hub of the “Inland Empire.” Like other SROs, which appeared on nearly every block of the central business district during the period, the Hotel Upton was built to accommodate the many itinerant laborers that flocked to Spokane to benefit from the expanding industries such as mining, agriculture, lumber and railroads. The Imperial Investment Co., headed by principle owner, manager, and secretary Andrew Laidlaw, a mining and real estate investor, contracted prominent Spokane architect Loren L. Rand to design the building. Some of Rand’s other notable local works include the First Presbyterian Church, the Marble Bank (now demolished), numerous schools including Lewis and Clark High School, and the Riverside and Main additions to the Crescent Building. The Grand Coulee, as the building is now known, retains the functional integrity of a typical SRO, with the ground floor given over to commercial space and housing on the upper floors. It is the western terminus of the West Downtown Spokane Historic Transportation Corridor, a National Register Historic District. – Historic Spokane
