See our new genealogical history of Frank Rockwood Moore below.

2010 Season
Open May 15th - 30th, weekends only,
10 a.m. - 4:30
Open Memorial Day - Labor Day, Wednesday - Sunday, 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Closed Mondays and Tuesdays

For additional questions or if you are interested in scheduling an event at the gardens, please call 625-6677.

Directions from downtown Spokane: Go south on Stevens Avenue, turn right onto Seventh Avenue and enter Pioneer Park and the Heritage Gardens from Seventh Avenue.

From I-90: West-bound take the Division St. Exit, go west (left) on Second Ave., go south (left) on Stevens Avenue, and turn right on Seventh Avenue. Enter Pioneer Park.

From I-90: East-bound take Maple St. Exit, go east (right) on Third Ave., go south (right) onto Stevens, turn right on Seventh Avenue. Enter Pioneer Park.

The Threads That Bind…

In Spokane the past is often intimately intertwined with the present and the future.  But what could a restored historic residential garden have in common with an emerging downtown technology center?  If you are talking about the Moore-Turner Heritage Gardens and the Holly Mason Building the answer is:   two brothers - Frank Rockwood Moore and Frederick Mason. 

The brothers were the sons of Joseph Louis Moore and his second wife Sarah Rockwood of Sheboygan, Wisconsin.  Sarah died in 1854 a month after giving birth to Frank’s little brother Frederick.  Both boys were taken in by Zebulon and Cornelia Mason, family friends who had no children of their own.  Two years later after his father married his third wife, Frank rejoined the Moore household.  Fred remained with the Mason family, took their last name, and grew up as their adopted child.

Both brothers were to become successful entrepreneurs.  In 1879 Frank and his wife Fanny moved to Spokane where he opened a general merchandise store called F.R. Moore & Company.  In 1882 Frank and James Nettle Glover organized the First National Bank, and Frank served as its first president.  He helped organize Spokane’s public water system which led to a business interest in the Holley Manufacturing Company, the supplier of the pipes.  He also served as the first president of Washington Water Power Company and was an early investor in mining, real estate and transportation entities.  He was the original owner of the Moore-Turner Heritage Gardens.

After his arrival in Spokane in 1886, Fred Mason became associated with the Holley Manufacturing Company that got its start providing equipment for the Coeur d’Alene Mines in Idaho.  In 1892 Fred was listed as president of Holley, Mason and Marks.  In 1905 he contracted for the construction of the Holley Mason building at 157 S. Howard Street which housed his hardware company and served as his warehouse. 

Today the Holley Mason Building has been restored by Rob Brewster, President, ConoverBond Development.  This emerging technology center in a downtown section of the Terabyte Triangle was temporary home to Lewis & Clark High School during its restoration and expansion.  Avista, the successor to WWP, provided the fiber optics for the building.  As a descendent of the brothers, Debbie Norman*, stated:  “How exciting that this old building was not razed, and was able to evolve from providing the materials that helped build Spokane, to providing the data technologies that will make the city prosper into the 21st century.” 

The tremendous legacy of the Moore-Mason brothers is expressed in this building as well as in the inspiring historic gardens up the hill.  The threads that bind the past to the present and future continue to fascinate!  To read more, see this detailed Word document on Frank Rockwood Moore.

* This historic genealogy was donated to Heritage Gardens Trust by Deborah Norman and the Trust has turned this information over to the Northwest Room in the Spokane Public Library.

The Corbin & Moore-Turner Heritage Gardens were extensive and impressive residential landscapes reflecting a distinct way of life during the early development of Spokane, Washington.  This archaeological resource contains much of its original form and material that is easily identifiable as a designed landscape reflecting the Arts and Crafts movement in America.  In May 2000, the Moore-Turner Garden was placed on the Spokane Register of Historic Places.  The D.C. Corbin House register listing was amended to include the Corbin Heritage Garden.  The Corbin & Moore-Turner Heritage Gardens project is the first residential landscape of its kind in the state of Washington.  See the Trust's Outline of Accomplishments for more background on this organization.

Page updated August 17, 2009.