Five Mile Prairie, Spokane
Five Mile Prairie is a neighborhood on the far north side of Spokane, Washington. It is located on a prairie of the same name that is atop a bluff on the northern edge of the city of Spokane. It contains the highest elevations on the north side of the city proper. Despite its elevation, however, most of the neighborhood is relatively flat prairie land. Housing development has been replacing the rural land in the neighborhood since the start of the 21st century.
History
The Spokane people inhabited the area that is now known as the Five Mile Prairie for centuries before European settlers arrived. The natives named the prairie "Billymeechum" or "home of the tall grass" after their Chief and have been documented in the area dating as far back as the year 1010; extant petroglyphs remain from their presence on the rock cliffs.The first settler to inhabit the area was a homesteader named J.F. Strong, who built a house on the prairie in 1879. The Strong House is still inhabited and one of the earliest and best preserved homes in north Spokane County, and is listed on the Spokane Register of Historic Places. The homesteaders primarily cultivated fruit orchards and berries as well as wheat, oats, and barley. A school was built on the prairie in 1901. The name of the prairie was changed to "Five Mile" in 1908, in reference to its distance from the Spokane Falls in Downtown Spokane.
The bulk of the Five Mile Prairie that is within the city limits of Spokane was annexed in 1966. Additional annexations of smaller areas of land subsequently took place in 1975, 1979, 1984, and 1986.
Geography
The Five Mile Prairie is almost an island of the Columbia Plateau surrounded by lowlands cut by the Spokane River and Little Spokane River. Surrounded by cliffs to the north, east, and west, the 3400-acre prairie sits atop a high circular table or mesa of basalt rock looking over the city below. The south-facing slopes of the Five Mile Prairie neighborhood rise about 400 feet. The hill gets higher to the north, reaching more than 400 at its apex in the neighborhood.Atop Five Mile Prairie, the land is largely flat. Bluffs of a few hundred feet mark all sides of the neighborhood, though some go beyond city limits. To the north, the Little Spokane River runs, and to the south and west, the Spokane River runs.
Transportation
Five Mile Prairie is not served by the region's public transit provider, the Spokane Transit Authority. Though the Five Mile Park & Ride, Country Homes Park & Ride and the Fairwood Park & Ride are all located just below the Five Mile Prairie bluff.The neighborhood does not conform to the city's street grid. Instead, it takes on a much more suburban approach with winding roads and cul-de-sacs common.