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Davenport's Restaurant
| Name: | Davenport's Restaurant |
|---|---|
| Dates: |
July, 1890 ()
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| Biography/History: | Not long after Louis Davenport arrived in Spokane from San Francisco, much of downtown Spokane was destroyed by a massive fire. Among the ruined businesses was the Pride of Spokane Restaurant on Howard Street owned by Louis’s uncle Elijah Davenport, where Louis was employed. Within a few months following the fire, Louis Davenport opened the Waffle Foundry in a tent on Sprague Avenue. He moved the eatery to another tent across the street on the west side of the Wilson Block in 1890, but the second tent burned to the ground on July 4. Within a few days, Davenport regrouped and on July 10, he opened Davenport’s Restaurant in the ground floor of Wilson Block at 805-809 West Sprague Avenue. The restaurant’s opening was covered by a lengthy and glowing article in the Spokane Falls Review. The article concludes with these words of praise: Every detail of the establishment throughout shows the strenuous efforts have been made to practically make this a retreat where the most fastidious taste of the connoisseur can be satisfied, and for which the proprietor, L. M. Davenport, deserves much credit, having had many obstacles to overthrow in connection with this business. He has spared neither trouble nor expense to make this restaurant strictly first-class in every respect, and every detail shows that much study and labor have been expended to completely satisfy every want that his patrons could possibly desire. Davenport’s quickly became the Inland Northwest’s most elegant and popular restaurant. So successful was it that by about 1900, Davenport’s took over the entire Wilson Block and most of the ground floor of the adjoining Bellevue Block, where the kitchen was located. Despite being a lessee of the spaces, Davenport engaged the architect Kirtland Cutter to remodel the interior and exterior of the building. The new design was in the Mission-revival style, an eye-catching departure from the conservative architectural styles of the surrounding business district. Within three years, however, Louis Davenport had purchased the buildings that housed his restaurant and another building adjoining it to the south, allowing him to make even more changes. In 1904, Davenport added a hothouse on top of the building and a wine cellar under it. He built an apartment house in the adjoining building. The most adventuresome of the changes was the addition of a large ballroom, the Hall of Doges, above the restaurant. The 900 square-foot room was ornately decorated to suggest the palaces of the Italian doges. Kirtland Cutter designed the Hall of Doges, displaying his remarkable talents at interior design. In addition to the ballroom and banquet rooms, Cutter designed an apartment for Louis Davenport in the northeast corner of the building. The year 1906 was a pinnacle in Davenport’s hospitality career with the declaration in a national magazine that “Davenport’s Restaurant is the finest thing of the kind in the country.” It was no surprise that in 1908, the Spokane businessmen who had been working on plans for a first-class hotel since 1906 approached Louis Davenport to be the manager. Again, Kirtland Cutter was engaged to design an 11-story hotel (it was ultimately 12) and in short order Davenport parlayed his role into that of controlling partner, personally directing all aspects of the hotel’s construction, development, and management. The Davenport Hotel, which opened in September 1914, filled the entire block between Sprague and First avenues at Lincoln Street, with its east end adjoining Davenport’s Restaurant. The year 1911, was a significant one with Teddy Roosevelt’s second visit to Spokane. Louis Davenport engaged Kirtland Cutter to redecorate the apartment for the former president. In subsequent years, Davenport’s Restaurant underwent a variety of changes. In 1916, the restaurant was remodeled into the Davenport Coffee Shop and in 1917, the Delicacy Shop, featuring light meals and fountain items, was added to the southeast corner of the Bellevue Block. In 1922, Cutter and Malmgren designed the renowned Italian Gardens and in 1928, G. A. Pehrson and interior designer Carl R. Berg remodeled the Orange Bower and the Delicacy Shop into the Persian-themed Aladdin Fountain. In 1945, Louis Davenport retired and sold the Wilson and Bellevue Blocks and the Davenport Hotel. Until 1985, when the businesses were closed, a series of owners made radical, often unfortunate changes. Threat of demolition spurred the organization of the Friends of the Davenport with the goal of promoting and preserving the building. Hope for success came with the property’s purchase in 1993 but were dashed by what seemed like insurmountable problems. In 2000, salvation came in the form of Walt and Karen Worthy, who purchased the entire block containing the hotel and Davenport’s Restaurant. To facilitate the proper renovation of the Davenport Hotel, considered to be the crown jewel, the buildings on the Wilson Block, including Davenport’s Restaurant had to be sacrificed and they were demolished in 2001. |
| Related Objects: |
4430.1 (Spoon, Souvenir, Davenports Silver Spoon, 1911)
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