Cheney is a city in Spokane County, Washington, United States.
History[]
In the late 1860s and early 1870s began to make homes in the area that is known as Cheney today. The promise of a railroad brought more people in during the 1880s.
The name of the community, originally Section Thirteen, became Willow Springs, then became Depot Springs, because of its ties to the railroad, then Billings, in honor of a president of the Northern Pacific Company, and finally Cheney, in honor of Benjamin P. Cheney, a director of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Cheney visited the town on September 18, 1883, following the "Last Spike Ceremony" which was the joining of the eastern and western divisions of the railroad.
Cheney donated money to establish the Benjamin P. Cheney Academy in the town. The railroad donated 8 acres of land so that the educational facility could be built. In 1880 the railroad was graded through the town, and in 1883 the town was incorporated with the streets laid out in the shape of a triangle with the base parallel to the tracks. The railroad tracks were not in a true east-west line, however, so the original town is askew with the map; the newer part of Cheney was built more to the compass.
After a series of boundary changes caused by legislative acts, Spokane County was created with a permanent county seat still to be selected. Contenders for the honor were Cheney and Spokane Falls (now Spokane). Cheney received a majority of the votes, but because of alleged irregularities at the polls the election was won by Spokane Falls. When this was taken to court, a circuit courtjudge agreed to a ballot recount. Such recount failed to materialize, however, and the citizens of Cheney took matters into their own hands.
On a night when most of the residents of Spokane Falls were at a gala wedding celebration, a group of armed "Cheneyites" raided the Auditor's office and took possession of the books, did their own ballot recount and declared Cheney the victor. They made off with the records. The declaration was not contested and was confirmed by a court decision in 1881.
Cheney remained the county seat until 1886 when the faster-growing Spokane Falls again brought the issue to a vote and regained the seat. When Washington became a state in 1889, Cheney was able to obtain legislation establishing one of the state normal schools, mandatory under the Enabling Act, in Cheney. Its most convincing argument was that it already had the physical beginnings of a normal school in the Benjamin P. Cheney Academy.
Eastern Washington University was established in 1882 by a $10,000 grant from expressman Benjamin Pierce Cheney, and was originally known as Benjamin P. Cheney Academy to honor its founder. In 1889 the school was renamed State Normal School at Cheney and in 1937 to Eastern Washington College of Education.
The campus was almost totally destroyed twice by fire in 1891 and 1912, but was rebuilt each time.
The school grew quickly in size following World War II and became Eastern Washington State College. During this era, Eastern added various graduate and undergraduate degree programs. In 1977, the school's name was changed for the final time to Eastern Washington University by the Washington State Legislature.
In 1992, the core of the campus was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Washington State Normal School at Cheney Historic District.
Geography[]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.30 square miles (11.14 km2), of which, 4.27 square miles (11.06 km2) is land and 0.03 square miles (0.08 km2) is water.
Cheney is located at 47°29′19″N 117°34′43″W (47.488634, -117.578581),[8] at an elevation of 2,400 ft (730 m).
Climate[]
Winters are relatively cold, wet, snowy and windy. The wind chill factor can be well below zero and temperatures can reach into the negative double-digits at times. Summers are hot and dry. Temperatures average at a high of upper 80s with lows in the 50s.