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Dwight, Daniel H.

Last Name: Dwight
First Name: Daniel H.
Dates:
1868 - 1950 (Life/Active Dates)
*5.4.1950 (Date of Death)
Biography/History: Daniel H. Dwight arrived in Spokane Falls in 1887 and invested in business property. Married Mary Willis in 1887; lived at 1905 W Pacific. Daniel died April 5, 1950 age 88. Mary died 1924, age 62. Daniel Dwight was a Massachusetts schoolteacher before moving to Spokane Falls. He wrote in 1887, “I have looked around town considerable and I like the looks of this place quite well. It is very young and spread out a good deal, but new buildings are going up all over town and it seems to be growing very fast. The mines above here and the great wheat region a few miles south, and the tremendous water power, and the railroad connections seem to predict a future for the place.” Dwight built the first local “skyscraper,” three-story Falls City Block, on the southwest corner of Riverside and Post. From his real estate office in this building, he invested widely in downtown property. Disaster struck on August 4, 1889, when fire destroyed much of downtown. Dwight quickly rebuilt his Falls City Block and continued his community investments and civic activities. After the 1889 fire swept the town, property owners had to obtain passes to retrieve their belongings from the “burnt district.” Dwight collected many souvenirs representing the businesses that had operated in his Falls City Block: the Exchange National Bank, Bonne & Lindsay’s grocery, Dr. Hauver’s dental office, the Falls City Opera House, and his own real estate office. He was a Spokane Chamber of Commerce organizer and on Spokane park board and school board. Family gifted chimes to Westminster Congregational Church in memory of Mary Willis Dwight, graduate of Boston Conservatory of Music. Also donated 2 stained glass windows to Pilgrim Lutheran in memory of Dwight family. Three children listed as survivors in 1950: Dorothy (Mrs. George F. Woodward) (and her son George Dwight Woodward) at 2418 W Pacific; Daniel W. (707 W 17th); and Miss Mary Elizabeth Dwight (1905 W Pacific). Daniel W. (1894?-1957) died age 63. Mary (“Mae”) Elizabeth (1895-1987): Artist, author, poet. Art training at Washington State University and Chicago Academy of Fine Art. Dorothy Frances (1899-1985) married August 1933 to (dentist) Dr. George Woodward (1897-1984) (Spokesman obits, April 6, 1950; Jul.18, 1984, Sep.10, 1985; Chronicle obit, April 24, 1987)
Related Participants:
Related Objects:
1007.9A (Chip, Poker, Poker Chip Souvenirs of 1889 Spokane Fire, ca. 1889)
EphL2013-3.1 (Pass, Daniel Dwight's "Burnt District" Pass from the Spokane Fire, August 1889, August 1889)
Ms136 (Daniel H. Dwight Papers, 1874 - 1970)