A Washington boy by birth,
Bing was born in Tacoma, Washington on May 3, 1903. When he was three his family moved to Spokane, seven years later moving into this house. The family lived in the house until 1936, when it was sold. A star of radio, movies and television, Bing came to be one of the best known entertainers of his time, with nearly 300 hit singles to his credit. Bing died in 1977.
The Bing Crosby House is now part of Gonzaga University and is also known as the Crosby Alumni House, Bing being an alumnus of Gonzaga. Open as the
Bing Crosby Museum, it houses the largest collection of Bing Crosby memorabilia anywhere. When a Spokane home tour was organized in 2011, the Bing Crosby House was a highlight of the tour. A Spokane Spokesman-Review article, reproduced in part below, describes the tour.
Bing Crosby’s boyhood home
open as part of tour
A big slice of Spokane history is going to be on display this weekend in a historic home tour at Gonzaga University and the adjacent neighborhood.
A highlight will be a stop at the Bing Crosby House where the crooner spent a large part of his boyhood. The house was completed in 1913 by Crosby’s father and two uncles, and the family lived there until it was sold in 1936.
The tour is a fundraiser for Spokane Preservation Advocates, which uses proceeds to support historic projects.
Crosby’s fame as a singer and Hollywood film star continues to interest people nearly 34 years after his death.
While the Craftsman-style Crosby House, 508 E. Sharp Ave., is used for a pair of GU administrative programs, it is also something of a tourist attraction in Spokane.
The interior of the main floor is largely the same as it was when the Crosbys built the house. It has extensive woodwork done in the “curly fir” style that was popular in the period. The floors are a fine white oak. A mantel and bookshelves along the west wall have cutouts that are characteristic of the Craftsman era. The original quarry tile in front of the fireplace remains intact, although the brick on the fireplace itself has been painted white.
The GU alumni association acquired the Crosby House in 1978. The university took possession when the alumni association last year moved to the Huetter House, 503 E. Sharp Ave.
Mac McCandless, of GU’s plant services department, said the university wants to maintain the historical integrity of the house...
From the Spokane Spokesman-Review