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The county seat of Spokane County was contested between Spokane Falls and Cheney in elections in 1880 and 1886. Cheney won the first election, although Spokane boosters argued that the opposition literally stole the election. Supposedly, men from Cheney broke into the Spokane board of records and stole all bookkeeping and votes from the contest. In 1886, Spokane mustered the votes to win the seat back, making this Cheney courthouse obsolete. A web site reconstructing the history of Cheney stated: "Cheney kept the county seat until the election of 1886, when the "city of the falls" succeeded in getting a majority. The county court house in Cheney occupied the site of the present junior high school building. In the same block stood the county jail, which was afterward removed, remodeled somewhat, and is now used to house the chickens of Senator W. J. Sutton. The court house, in later years, was removed from its original site to the corner at Fourth Street and Normal Avenue, where the tennis courts are located. It was used for the public schools until 1896, and then, while being remodeled to serve as a residence, was destroyed by fire." (See "History of the State Normal School at Cheney, Washington,"Accessed 08/04/2014.)

Demolished; this Cheney courthouse burned in 1896.

PCAD id: 19341