1890 420 1st Street

Erected about 1890, this building at 420 1st Street first housed a general merchandise store. During it's life, the front facade has been extensively altered and the building has been extended back to the alley. It has housed a variety of businesses including retail shops, a meat market, grocery store, and museum.

Erected about 1890, this building at 420 1st Street first housed a general merchandise store. The one-story, 25 by 90 foot flat-roof building originally had brick cornices, large display windows flanking a central entry door, with a row of windows above. A cloth awning provided shade from the summer sun.

What was here before? There was a wood-frame building that housed a saloon in 1884 and a jewelry shop in 1888. 

Frank Korte & Company, general merchandise business moved into the building about 1898. Frank and his wife Flossie were a very popular young couple who were active in many of the community's clubs and lodges. One or both of their names appeared almost every week in the social columns of the newspaper, the social media of the time. At the end of 1903 Frank and Flossie left Cheney, first to Pendleton and then to Medical Lake. 

Korte sold his merchandise to H.H. Schultz and his son Robert, who opened a store in the Odd Fellows (IOOF) building on the next block. A succession of businesses followed, including a billiard parlor, furniture store, and a hardware store. 

About 1916, the City Meat Market moved into the building, they extended the rear of the building to the alley to accommodate at fat rendering boiler. When the Masonic Lodge, who owned the all the corner property by then, erected the building next door at 422 1st in 1927, they remodeled this building's façade to make it consistent with their two adjacent buildings on the east. The meat market was at this location until 1933. 

Alex Huse's grocery store moved from 414 1st to this location in 1934. About this time, John "Jack" Gibson came to work at Huse Grocery, working his way up to store manager in 1938. Gibson bought out Huse in 1940 and the store was renamed Gibson's Red & White Grocery. He recalled: 

"Those early years of the grocery business in Cheney, it was mostly a barter system in buying eggs, potatoes, and other items direct from the farmer."  

He also recalled that he used to drive to the wholesale produce market in Spokane three or four times a week. Later when frozen foods came in, the frequent trips to fresh market stopped. 

In January 1959, Gibson’s Grocery moved to the purpose-built building at 1011 1st Street, becoming Cheney's first "supermarket." 

Bob Tubbs then moved his Cheney Cycle and Magazine Shop into the larger quarters of former grocery spot. His store was also known as the Cheney News Stand, but was usually just called Tubbs. Bob had first opened his store in 1947, occupying a number of locations before this final one. Brian Casey recalled in 2015: 

“My favorite place to go in 1962 was the News Stand, I think it was called "Tubbs." I would buy a soda, candy, and a comic book with my allowance. It remained my favorite place for paperback books and magazines. I bought The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings novels there as well as most of the Sci Fi that I was so fond of. It was a great place.”

Bob Tubbs retired in 1964, selling the business to Marlin and Ellen Jones Holmes, who continued as the Cheney News Stand. After Marlin's death in 1976, Ellen and daughters, Linda and Robin, changed the name to the Book and Brush, adding more art and craft supplies. She moved that business to larger quarters down the block at the corner with F Street in 1979. 

Roberts Sports was the next occupant, followed by Jim & Dodie's Silverworks around 1988. Mobile PC Medic operated from 2000 to 2006. 

The interior underwent a major remodel and modernization in order for the Cheney Historical Museum's move into the space in October 2009. The museum moved out during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and the Masonic Temple Building Association helped the Cheney Depot Society by allowing them to store the windows for the historic train depot until they were ready to be refinished and installed. As of October 2022, the building awaits its next tenant. 

• Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps 1884, 1888, 1890, 1891, 1897, 1905, 1908, 1916, 1939.
• Cheney Historical Preservation Commission Reports
• Southwest Spokane County Historical Society collections
• Cheney Free Press, various dates
• Cheney phone books 1955 - 2010