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Treasures of the Archives: Spokane City Parks, Lantern Slides, 1900-1930

Woman on top of Basalt/Frank Palmer, Photographs, Spokane City Parks, Lantern Slides, 1900-1930, Washington State Archives, Digital Archives.

Woman on top of Basalt/Frank Palmer, Photographs, Spokane City Parks, Lantern Slides, 1900-1930, Washington State Archives, Digital Archives, http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov.

This image of a woman standing proud atop a basalt cliff at Downriver Park is part of a series of images from the 1910s to the 1930s highlighting the natural beauty of Spokane’s parks. Images like this were produced by the public relations experts of the day, known as “boosters.” These intrepid salesmen could be found all across the western United States promoting every one-horse town and rural village as the next great American metropolis. In Spokane, a series of promotional lantern slides were produced to show off the growing city’s parks, such as this image of teepees at Indian Canyon Park, or this shot of “Lover’s Lane” in Natatorium Park. The Spokane City Parks, Lantern Slides, 1900-1930 collection contains 123 images from many of Spokane’s parks and its surrounding wilderness.