60 free Spokane trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Spokane invented Father's Day, hosted the first environmental World's Fair, calls itself Hooptown USA and was the smallest city ever to stage a world exposition. This Spokane trivia quiz covers the second-largest city in Washington from the fur-trading post of 1810 to today: the tribe whose name means children of the sun, the incorporation as Spokane Falls, the Great Fire of 1889 and the Romanesque downtown Kirtland Cutter built afterwards, the railroads, the mining rushes and Expo '74. There are questions on Gonzaga and the Zags, Whitworth, the Bloomsday Run, Hoopfest, Pig Out in the Park, the Chiefs and their Memorial Cups, the Indians and the Velocity, Riverfront Park's carousel, Manito Park, the Davenport Hotel, why the airport code is GEG, why the city gets less than half of Seattle's rain, and the locals who made good: Bing Crosby, John Stockton, Ryne Sandberg, Tom Foley, Craig T. Nelson and Ryan Lewis. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the city and its people, and each question shows its source once you have answered.
30 of 60 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Spokane is the second-most populous city in which US state?
Washington
Only Seattle, 280 miles west along I-90, is larger; the metro area has around 605,000 people.
Q 02Spokane is known as the birthplace of which national holiday?
Father's Day
The idea was conceived in the city's Central Methodist Episcopal Church during a Mother's Day sermon.
Q 03Which Spokane woman started the movement for a national holiday honouring fathers?
Sonora Smart Dodd
The first observance took place in the city on 19 June 1910, after she heard a Mother's Day sermon.
Q 04What is Spokane's long-standing unofficial nickname, taken from a flowering shrub?
Lilac City
The shrub flourished after being introduced in the early 20th century, and a festival in May still carries its name.
Q 05What is Spokane's official nickname, earned by hosting the world's largest basketball tournament?
Hooptown USA
The June tournament is a 3-on-3 event that takes over the downtown streets.
Q 06What does the name of the Spokane tribe mean in Salishan?
Children of the sun
The tribe lived off plentiful game in the area long before the fur traders arrived.
Q 07The Spokane House trading post, founded in 1810, was established for which British fur-trading concern?
The North West Company
It was the first enduring European settlement of significance in the future state, and later passed to the Hudson's Bay Company.
Q 08Which explorer-geographer sent the trappers who built the 1810 trading post on the Spokane River?
David Thompson
He had already founded the Kullyspell and Saleesh House posts in what are now Idaho and Montana.
Q 09Under what name was the city officially incorporated in 1881?
Spokane Falls
It was reincorporated under its current name in 1891, two years after the Great Fire.
Q 10In which year did the Great Fire destroy Spokane's downtown commercial district?
1889
The blaze started just after 6 p.m. on 4 August and wiped out 32 blocks.
Q 11Why were firefighters unable to douse the Great Fire when it started?
A pump station failure left the city with no water pressure
In desperation they began razing buildings with dynamite to starve the flames.
Q 12Which self-taught architect designed much of the rebuilt downtown, including the Davenport Hotel?
Kirtland Cutter
He arrived in 1886, designed a chalet for himself while working as a bank teller, and went on to shape the city's Romanesque Revival core.
Q 13The Davenport Hotel opened in 1914 with novel technology for its day, including which feature?
Q 21Which NBA all-time assists leader was born and raised in Spokane and stayed home to play for Gonzaga?
John Stockton
He turned down offers from Idaho and Montana to play for Dan Fitzgerald.
Q 22Which Hall of Fame Chicago Cubs second baseman was born in Spokane in 1959?
Ryne Sandberg
He later managed the Phillies and had his number 23 retired by the Cubs.
Q 23Which Spokane-born congressman served as Speaker of the US House from 1989 to 1995?
Tom Foley
He was the first sitting Speaker in over a century to lose his own re-election bid; the city's federal courthouse bears his name.
Air cooling and chilled water
The Renaissance and Spanish Revival landmark cost two million dollars and sat vacant for over 20 years before its restoration.
Q 14Which world's fair did Spokane host in 1974?
Expo '74
At the time it was the smallest city ever to host a World's Fair.
Q 15What was historically notable about the focus of Spokane's 1974 World's Fair?
It was the first with an environmental theme
The fair removed a century of railroad infrastructure from the riverbanks and reinvented the downtown.
Q 16The former World's Fair grounds became which 100-acre downtown green space?
Riverfront Park
The park has views of the falls, a rebuilt gondola skyride and a hand-carved 1909 carousel.
Q 17Gonzaga University was founded in 1887 by which religious order?
The Jesuits
The Italian-born priest Joseph Cataldo led the founding; the campus includes the childhood home of the city's most famous singer.
Q 18Whitworth University, founded in 1890 and moved to Spokane in 1914, is affiliated with which church?
Presbyterian
It was originally founded in Tacoma before relocating to north Spokane.
Q 19In which year did Gonzaga's men's basketball team reach its first Final Four?
2017
The Zags lost the title game to North Carolina, and returned to the final in 2021 only to fall to Baylor.
Q 20Who was promoted from assistant to Gonzaga Bulldogs head coach in 1999?
Mark Few
He took over when Dan Monson left for Minnesota after the 1999 Elite Eight run.
Q 24Which legendary crooner was raised in Spokane and has a downtown theater named in his honour?
Bing Crosby
As a teenager he worked as a property boy at Spokane's Auditorium, where he watched Al Jolson perform.
Q 25Which actor, star of Coach and the voice of Mr. Incredible, was born in Spokane in 1944?
Craig T. Nelson
Saturday Night Live alumna Julia Sweeney and novelist Sherman Alexie are also from the Spokane area.
Q 26Which Spokane-born producer forms half of the hip-hop duo behind The Heist and "Thrift Shop"?
Ryan Lewis
He attended Ferris High School in Spokane before finishing school in Seattle and teaming with Macklemore.
Q 27Spokane International Airport's code GEG is a legacy of which former name?
Geiger Field
The name was used until 1960; the airport is the second largest in the state.
Q 28Which US Air Force unit, the area's largest employer, is based at Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane?
The 92d Air Refueling Wing
The other top employers are the state, the public schools, Sacred Heart Medical Center and the county.
Q 29Why does Spokane receive less than half of Seattle's annual rainfall?
It sits in the rain shadow of the Cascades
The city averages 16.5 inches of precipitation a year against Seattle's 39.3.
Q 30What is Spokane's all-time record high temperature?
112 °F
The record low is minus 30, though days over 100 average only about one a year.