Hillyard Heritage Museum

Hillyard Heritage Museum. . In the 1880's, the area northeast of the then City of Spokane Washington, now known as Hillyard, was called Wild Horse Prairie by the Native Americans., In 1889, James Jerome Hill, owner of the Great Northern Railway, visited the area. The GN Railway located a Western Regional Terminal Facility in the area. , In October 25, 1892, Leland and Kate Westfall plated the town of Hillyard consisting of an area of 20 blocks. , In 1902, the first depot was an old telegraph office installed to serve the growing traffic. , In 1905, it was replaced by a new building and the official station name became "Hillyard". This building was replaced in 1941 which was used until the 1970 Burlington Northern Merger. , In 1907, the town of Hillyard was incorporated. In 1924, the town was annexed into the City of Spokane. , In 1907, the original Hillyard High School building was built in 1922, a new Hillyard High School was constructed, and was used until 1932 when it was replaced by a new and larger high school named John R. Rogers High School. , In 1910, Hillyard built a public swimming pool. Later to be known as the Hillyard Aquatic Center. , In 1912, the Great Northern Railway rebuilt the Hillyard rail facilities into a large overhaul and maintenance shop for locomotives, freight cars, passenger coaches and cabooses. , In 1927, the locomotive shops at Hillyard were selected to build the largest steam locomotives that had ever been built up to that time. These locomotives were the heavy and powerful R-1 and R 2 articulated (Mallet type) locomotives owned by the GN. The R-1 class locomotives were built between October 1927 and 1928 with the R-2 class following between 1928 and 1930. , In 1928, the Spokane City Council appropriated $20,000.00 to build a Hillyard branch of the Spokane Public Library System. This building was used as a library building until 1983. , In 1932, Great Northern Hillyard shops built three Mikado (2-8-2) or "Mike" class 0-8, the heaviest and most powerful Mikado steam locomotives in the world. These three locomotives were the only steam locomotives built in the United States during 1932., During the 1930's, 1940's and 1950's, the Hillyard business district was a thriving business community with many offices and retail stores, the Rialto Theater and a fire station. There were also many churches in the area. , From 1954 to 1970, the Great Northern Railway built and operated the largest and most complete diesel locomotive repair and overhaul facility west of the Rocky Mountains. , In 1970, the Great Northern Railway merged to become the Burlington Northern Railroad. , On October 4, 1982, after 70 years of operation, the Burlington Northern Railroad Hillyard (Spokane) Washington diesel shop, was officially closed. , Photo captions: James Hill, Hillyard High School.