When you bring up Washington state, most people envision Seattle’s rain-soaked streets, ferries traversing Puget Sound, and the silhouettes of mountains vanishing into Pacific fog. Spokane doesn’t even come close to fitting that description. Spokane, which is located about 280 miles east of Seattle along Interstate 90, is a very different kind of Washington: it is drier, flatter in places, and surrounded by river basalt and ponderosa pines. Geographically and atmospherically, it is a world apart from the coast.
About 20 miles from the Idaho border and 110 miles south of Canada, Spokane is situated in the eastern part of Washington state. It is located deep in the Inland Northwest, a region that Spokane takes great pride in. Its coordinates are roughly 47.66°N latitude and 117.43°W longitude. With the Selkirk Mountains close by and the foothills of the Rocky Mountains encroaching from the east, the city is situated in a wide river valley that is cut through by the Spokane River. The scene is more reminiscent of Montana than the Washington that most outsiders picture.
When you first look at Spokane on a map, you get the impression that everything about this place was subtly shaped by geography. Bypassed by the Cascade rain shadow and sandwiched between two mountain ranges, the city established its own economic logic—mining, logging, and agriculture—long before anyone considered it a regional center. In 1810, David Thompson’s North West Company founded the Spokane House, a trading post at the meeting point of the Little Spokane and Spokane rivers. In what would eventually become Washington state, that was the first significant European settlement. The origins of the city are ancient, if not always honored.
With a population of about 230,000 according to recent estimates, Spokane is currently the county seat of Spokane County and the second-largest city in Washington. Its metro area, which includes Spokane Valley and neighboring communities, is home to about 600,000 people. It is by no means a small city, despite the fact that it is occasionally regarded as such, possibly due to Seattle’s long shadow.
The elevation, which is roughly 1,844 feet, is more significant than most people realize. Winters in Spokane are harsh. In a way that coastal Washington seldom does, the city earns its seasons as snow builds up and temperatures drop. Summers, on the other hand, are typically dry and warm, which attracts people outdoors to Riverfront Park, where the Spokane River flows through the center of downtown, or along the Centennial Trail, which traces the river for miles in both directions.
Spokane has an underdog mentality that is difficult to ignore when visiting. The city is aware that it is not Seattle. It makes no effort to be. Alongside Gonzaga University, which was established in 1887, the downtown still features Romanesque Revival architecture, much of which was rebuilt following the Great Fire of 1889. Gonzaga University gives the city a distinctly collegiate vibe that intensifies every March during basketball season. The entire nation is momentarily intrigued by the Gonzaga Bulldogs’ ability to pinpoint Spokane’s exact location.
In addition, the Hoopfest tournament, which is said to be the biggest three-on-three basketball tournament in the world, is held annually in Spokane, which is also the birthplace of Father’s Day, a fact that locals mention with quiet satisfaction. It’s arguable whether that kind of distinction redefines a city’s identity, but it says something about the place: it shows up, it organizes itself, and it does things at scale.
Where is Washington’s Spokane? Geographically, it is located close to Idaho, under Canada, far from the ocean, and a long drive away from anything that the rest of the country is familiar with. However, geography can only provide so much information. The more truthful response is that Spokane is right where it should be: in the middle of its own region, on its own terms, carrying out the unglamorous tasks of being a real city.
