How do urban myths get lodged into local culture? Hard to say sometimes, but when they do, they’re often stuck forever.

Chuck King’s family claimed they were related to Jesse James. But were they? Uh… No.

Today we're over at the old trolley barn. But is this a trolley barn? Probably not. 

The old trolley barn building at 3038 East Trent was built by Modern Manufacturing Company in 1905. This building was actually three separate buildings for a manufacturing plant that built harvesters, mainly for local farms. The Modern Manufacturing Company ran into trouble not long after it was founded, and defaulted on bonds of over $100,000 in 1907. 

So is this when the buildings became a trolley barn? Uh, No. 

The space was taken over by the Spokane Harvester Company, which soon after became the Northwest Harvester Company, and then Caterpillar. In 1911, a much larger factory building was added, but this building no longer exists. We believe this building was necessary because of the invention of the side-hill harvester, which was invented by the general manager of Northwest Harvester, Arthur Blewett. 

In the late 1930s, the building was sold again. 

Is this when it became a trolley barn? Uh, No. 

We know this because by 1938, Spokane trolleys were no longer in service. We could find no evidence that the building was ever used as a trolley barn. 

Another Spokane myth bites the dust.

Watch the episode on YouTube here: “The Old Trolley Barn”