Where is "Top Notch Hill" in Spokane?

According to the book, “Manito Park: A Reflection of Spokane’s Past”, by Tony Bamonte and Suzanne Schaeffer Bamonte of www.tornadocreekpublications.com, we now hear more about the continuing building boom on the South Hill portion of the city and the development of the Manito neighborhood in specific.

Around the turn of the century, the stage was being set for Spokane’s showcase neighborhood.  Tremendous wealth from the nearby mining districts was creating one of the strongest economies Spokane has ever seen.  Real estate was booming and new housing developments were beginning to envelop the core of Spokane.  During  1903 alone, a total of 1500 new structures were built in Spokane.  Most of the city lay to the west of Washington Street, with substantial construction north of the river.  A scattering of new houses appeared around the perimeter of the city.

Spokane’s South Hill was about to emerge with a mighty and lasting force.  A real estate article in the June 24, 1903 Spokesman Review stated:

‘Top Notch Hill’ in the southern part of the town, is quite stable – very few changes in the buildings, because people building homes there generally know what they want and can afford to pay for it; whereas the less fortunate ones often keep on enlarging on an originally small house.

This article was defining a developing exclusive area, previously referred to as “The Hill”.  It also marked the beginning of a name and class reputation the South Hill would retain.  John Fahey describes many of this neighborhood’s residents in his book Shaping Spokane – Jay P. Graves and His Times:

                                In many ways the Spokane of 1900 mirrored the ostentation of Industrial America.  As the town flourished, merchants, mining and lumber magnates, bankers, lawyers, doctors and others – even a handful of manufacturers – not only could afford expensive housing, but demanded striking homes to testify to their preeminence in society and business.

                                “The Hill” was becoming a place of curiosity and awe.  People enjoyed viewing the beautiful homes as they passed through this area on the way to Montrose Park (as Manito Park was still called at the time) and the new building lots on the plateau.  For an up and coming family in the early 1900s, Manito was definitely the neighborhood to invest in property for a home.   It had all the elements for success, situated directly above one of Spokane’s already established elite neighborhoods immediately south of downtown (the area of the D.C and Austin Corbin, F. Lewis Clark, Kirtland Cutler, F. Rockwood More/Senator George Turner homes).

 

Next time, we’ll learn more about this booming neighborhood, some of its inhabitants and the continued development of the area.