National Register of Historic Places
Germond Block
Spokane, Spokane County, Washington
The record
- Listed
- January 8, 2014
- Type
- Building
- Address
- 830 W. Sprague Ave., Spokane
- County
- Spokane
- State
- Washington
- Contributing resources
- 1 building
- Coordinates
- 47.65927, -117.42578
- Reference number
- 13001062
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesUSGS Historical Topographic Map Collection
The story
Written by AI from this property's National Register nomination and the record above; every sentence is checked against its sources before it appears here. Corrections: privacy@treealive.com
The Germond Block is a Romanesque Revival commercial building at 830 W. Sprague Ave. in Spokane, built in 1890 and designed by architects Merritt J. Reid and James W. Reid.
Why it's listed
It was listed in the National Register in 2014 under criteria A, B, C and D, with local-level significance in architecture and commerce, and its period of significance runs from 1890, when it was built, to 1963, the year a fire damaged it.
Physical character
Its walls are face brick trimmed with terra cotta and granite, on a foundation of concrete and basalt rock. The facade has rusticated and honeycomb brickwork, round and segmental arches, arched windows and doorways, and a hip ridge skylight above an open grand stairway with turned-wood balusters and newel posts. A Syrian arch entrance was infilled with brick in 1945 and removed in 1962; a 1963 fire destroyed the arched windows and led to $50,000 in repairs.
Historical context
Eugene Germond bought the lots in 1887, secured a $40,000 mortgage in 1890 to begin construction, and opened his Log Cabin Saloon there, but lost the building in the Panic of 1893. The Travo family bought it in 1945 and ran Travo's Restaurant until their ownership ended in 1993.