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 Former Spokane Stock Exchange - Spokane, WA Posted by:  T0SHEA
N 47° 39.458 W 117° 25.404
11T E 468207 N 5278335
Rebuilt twice after fires, the Peyton Building was, itself, built shortly after the great fire of August 4, 1889, which took out 32 blocks of downtown Spokane.
Waymark Code: WMTB4J
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 10/26/2016
Views: 2
Operating from 1897 until 1991, the Spokane Stock Exchange officially closed for the final time on May 24, 1991. In its 94 year history it had closed temporarily a few times due to financial losses, but had reopened each time. The exchange was started in Spokane, the corporate centre of mining in the Pacific Northwest, to handle mining stocks of mines in southern British Columbia, northern Idaho’s “Silver Valley” in the Coeur d’Alene Mining District, and Northeastern Washington. For much of its history it sold mostly, sometimes exclusively, penny stocks, known as Over the Counter (OTC) stocks.
The exchange occupied quite a few different premises in Spokane over the years, including three locations on Riverside and 725 W Sprague for 40 years. From 1972 to 1987 its home was the second floor of the Peyton Building.
Originally built as the Great Eastern Building for the Great Eastern Dry Goods Company of San Francisco, owned by L. Levinsky, it was gutted by fire on January 24, 1898, leaving only the outside walls standing. The gutted building was purchased by "Colonel" Isaac N. Peyton for $42,000, who rebuilt using the remaining walls, naming the building after himself. In 1902 the adjacent three-story Hogan Block to the south was incorporated into the building. The Hogan Block's floors were raised to be level with those of the Peyton Building. Its front (west) façade was changed to match the Peyton Building's façade and two stories were added to make it the same height as the Peyton.
The Peyton Annex (724 W. Sprague Avenue), constructed in 1908, was added to the south end of the Peyton Building and is on the northeast corner of Sprague Avenue and Post Street. It was built to seven storeys in height, so two more floors were added to the Peyton Building to make it the same height.
The Last of its Kind
On September 17, 1985, the Spokane Stock Exchange tried to recover its integrity and viability when younger members voted out the old board of governors, including Harrison. They wanted to move toward an electronic trading system (that never materialized) and to expand their coverage to include more than just mining stocks. Of the few remaining registered regional mining exchanges in the United States, it was by then the largest, and the only one at which spectators could still call out orders directly to brokers on the floor and watch them being transacted. From 1972 to 1987 the home of the Spokane Stock Exchange was the second floor of the Peyton Building, 700 block of Riverside, another prestigious business location.
Just as the exchange seemed to be recovering, its board made the fatal mistake of granting a seat on the exchange to Meyer Blinder (1921-2004) of the Blinder, Robinson and Company of Englewood, Colorado. The Spokane brokers were apparently dazzled by Blinder’s ability, as hinted to a reporter, to provide Spokane with an electronic dissemination of quotes. The board was unaware of, or chose to ignore, Blinder’s long history of SEC violations and his reputation as a sleazy telemarketer who used high-pressure tactics to peddle worthless stocks. Soon after assuming his seat on the Spokane exchange, Blinder was indicted on racketeering and securities fraud charges, later convicted, and spent more than 40 months in federal prison.
The Spokane Stock Exchange spent its few remaining years at 601 W. Riverside, Room 200, still in the heart of downtown. As the SEC continued its pressure, brokers began deserting. Its remaining dispirited members voted to dissolve the exchange, and its last trading day was May 24, 1991. Although once one of the great regional mining exchanges and the last of its kind, upon its demise, the Wall Street Journal described the Spokane Stock Exchange as “the victim of painfully paltry trading and horse-and-buggy era technology”.
From the History Link
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Name: Spokane Stock Exchange
Address:
724 W. Sprague Avenue
Spokane, WA USA
99201
Country: U.S.
URL: [Web Link]
Is this exchange still active at this location: no
Activity Period: 1897 - 1991
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