The Powerful Falls

In front of you is the Thomas R. Adkison Theme Stream.  As you may have guessed, this feature was created for Expo '74 in order to echo the roaring falls on the far side of Havermale Island.  It was also meant to return Havermale Island to being truly an island after many decades as a peninsula.  Ironically, it became a peninsula because of the water that trickles in front of you and roars in the gorge of the Spokane River.

For James Glover, one of Spokane’s early pioneers, the water of the falls which he sought to “possess” could be harnessed to grind flour and saw logs.  These were the fundamental industrial activities in a region still rich in timber and already rich in grain.  It was a small start but, from 1873 until the mining and rail booms, mills and other businesses that harnessed the power of water would reshape the surrounding island and shore.

Near this spot stood the Echo flour mill, the second built in the budding town of Spokane Falls.  S.G. Havermale and George Davis built it to divert river water to turn millstones.  Havermale, as you may have guessed, transformed more than industry as the island became known by his name.