(Map of Spokane County compiled by County Surveyor, April 1900)
Patentee name: Rebecca Stirling, Date: October 18, 1892
Spokane Land Office, Doc.No. 3679, 120 acres
Range 42-E, Township 25-N, Sec. 26/ S1/2SW
Range 42-E, Township 25-N, Sec. 26/ SWSE
One of Rebecca and William’s more ambitious business enterprises was a housing development called the Stirling Heights Addition. It was located on the low hills of the southwest corner of the city limits, on a 120 acre parcel of land that was originally purchased by Rebecca Stirling in 1892, before they were married. Rebecca’s 1916 obituary mentions that she had resided near the Reitmer Station on the Medical Lake Line for the last 30 years, which would indicate that she operated her boarding house from this location at some point.
About 1909, William Pratt’s business associate, C. H. Braden platted the 120 acres of land into 493 lots which were offered for up to $600 per lot. Another business associate, William H. McColough, purchased an interest in the company and acted as President of the Stirling Heights Land Company.
MORE THAN A SUPERB VIEW! LOOKS down on the city FROM A HEIGHT OF 354 FEET, with an unobstructed view, (can you picture the scene?) – AND IS REACHED BY CAR.
A Soul-satisfying, Scintillating, Scenic Survey of Spokane and Surround- ings all the way to Stirling Heights.
No railroads to cross en-route.
Lots large, sightly, reasonable in price.
The spot where your MONEY WILL TREBLE.
GOOD TRANSPORTATION---18 MUNUTES’ CAR-RIDE, 2 ¾ MILES FROM HOWARD AND RIVERSIDE. Water mains being laid.
STIRLING HEIGHTS
The Grandest Scenic Residence Property Now Unoccupied in the City
Made by Nature for the Future Nob Hill of Spokane
McCOLOUGH-BRADEN Co.
Sole Agents
Suite 737 Peyton Blk.
Tel. M. 2508 SPOKANE, WASH.
CASH or TERMS--- Terms Easy; VERY EASY, if you like.
STUDY THE ATTACHED PLAT.
Let us talk this over with you.
A VERY FEW $$$ wwill put YOU among the BEST.
INFORMATION, PRICES, ETC., ON REQUEST
TRUISMS
Better rear the children in the ozone and in the green, than fight dirt, debt, disease, death and the devil down town! Health and happiness is a better investment than disease and doctors.
Lest we forget – Stirling Heights is 354 feet above the smoke currents of the city, with an unobstructed view, and is reached by car.
Better to live high in Stirling Heights, and OWN your home than to “live high” elsewhere in a rented house --- one costs as much as the other, and the balance of satisfaction is in favor of the former.
Better nurse your hope for a FU- TURE ADVANCE, than curse, in regret. A BUNDLE OF RENT RECEIPTS.
There’s more of the infinite in one of God’s grand old hills than in a 40- story-building; worship at the shrine of nature at least a part of the day and the rest of the time will be WORTH WHILE!
Lest we forget – Stirling Heights is 354 feet above the smoke currents of the city, with an unobstructed view, and is reached by car.
Let your personality be as broad as the view from Stirling Heights – get out of the rut --- Expand --- SPREAD OUT --- G-R-O-W!
Better come out with us and look it over NOW than WISH YOU HAD in the future.
IT’S RIGHT!
REGAL!
And REALISTIC
We BELIEVE in it and YOU WILL.
CANDIDLY, if you have not seen this property, a delightful experience awaits you: “COME IN” and “GO OUT” with us.
Above is the Stirling Heights Addition as it appeared in a 1912 plat book. In it, the name Stirling Heights is spelled as “Sterling”, perhaps in error, and this spelling is carried forward to modern times in the naming of Sterling Heights Park.
The right section of the development lies within the Spokane city limits and is designated East Sterling Heights, and the larger section on the left located outside of the city limits is West Sterling Heights. On this 1912 map, sections 6 and 7 are now shown as unplatted, and may have been deeded over to the county in lieu of taxes. The areas of sections 6 and 7 correspond to the boundaries of the current day Sterling Heights Park.
On the far right can be seen the local trolley line covering the 17 miles from Spokane to Medical Lake, and which was operated by the Washington Water Power Company. A trolley station was positioned every mile or two along the line, and for Stirling Heights, their closest was Reitmer Station, most likely named after the local Reitmeir family. The railway segment shown on this map is part of the present day Reimer Trolley Trail, a two mile public recreation trail built on the railway bed and maintained by the county.
Stirling Heights Today
Standard Atlas of Spokane County Washington
Including A Plat Book of the Villages, Cities and Townships of the County
Compiled and Published By Geo. A. Ogle & Co.
Publishers and Engravers, Chicago, 1912
Page 60, Section 26
Bottom: Corresponding Google Map
The location of the original Stirling Heights is just off of Interstate 90, about two miles east of the Spokane Airport As can be seen from the photo on the right, present day development is sparse. Our information is that the project was not a financial success for Rebecca and William, and when he died, the property passed into the hands of Rebecca’s daughter Elizabeth’s family who then sold it. Today, it is the location of an 8 acre neighborhood park named Sterling Heights Park.
