Spokane Bids the Best for Thompson Hall

I was doing some research in the 1894 Spokane Chronicle newspaper when I ran onto this article on the new building to be built at the State University. This article is from the Spokane Chronicle May 10, 1894 page 3.

I hope Donna does not mind that I borrowed a copy of the postcard she bought showing Thompson Hall at Washington State University in 1903. The above article describes the building to be built and that two Spokane Contractors won the bid to build Thompson Hall. 1893, 1894 and 1895 was bad times in the USA due to a recession, so any work these contractors got would help them in this bad time.

WSU & Thompson Hall

Bought this 1903 postcard in an antique-junque-mall in Virginia last May for $2.00. (Postcards from 3000 miles away are cheap.) Since our Washington children for decades have attended WSU in Pullman, Washington, thought you all might be interested. Especially when you click to this link for a tour of Wazzo's historic buildings:  http://ntserver1.wsulibs.wsu.edu/holland/masc/masctour/wsu_buildings/exhibit2.htm

The postcard shows Thompson Hall.......... and here is the info on that building from the above website:

THOMPSON HALL

Thompson Hall is the oldest extant building on campus, designed by noted Seattle architect, James Stephen and his Chicago trained partner, Timothetus Jesnhans. Their firm was selected over 16 other entries in an architectural competition held by the Board of Regents. Thompson Hall was constructed for less then $50, 000 using local red brick made from clay deposits in back of what is now Stevens Hall. Until 1968, it served as the Administration building as well as housing a number of other university functions. It is prominently sited and immediately identifiable by its two large towers, one truncated and one with conical roof. The romantic Victorian Romanesque character of the building s further enhanced by rich variety of windows and entryways and the use of rock-faced granite (quarried near Spokane) for its contrasting trim. It was rightly described by the Regents at the 1895 dedication as "an excellent piece of work and one that in point of convenience, strength, and architectural beauty compares with any state building." Today, it has been extensively remodeled inside, but the exterior remains largely intact. It is one of WSU's most notable buildings, an excellent example of an early ideal in education architecture. Click here to view additional images of Thompson Hall.