In 1889, Peter B. Barrow moved his family from Mississippi to Spokane. Almost immediately upon arriving, he began to involve himself politically and religiously in the city’s early life.
In 1890, he and his wife, along with several others, established Calvary Baptist Church, the oldest historically black church in Spokane, where Rev. Barrow served as pastor from 1895 to 1906. In July 1902, he helped host the Third Annual State Convention of the Colored Baptist Church at Calvary, giving an evening address to the attendees. His life ended tragically, when, as his granddaughter related, “He was killed in a street car accident in Tacoma, where he had gone for a church convention.” But his legacy lived on in the Deer Lake Orchard Company, founded in 1910 by Barrow’s son Peter Barrow, Jr.
Inspired by Booker T. Washington, who championed the use of skills and labor as tools to advance the Black community, the orchard provided an opportunity for Black workers trying to build their place in the Northwest.
Deer Lake Orchard also boasted a resort for Black residents to unwind, relax and enjoy the Pacific Northwest’s beauty as segregation was still the rule of the day. Though the orchard existed for only about 10 years its existence had a lasting impact on Spokane’s Black community.
The company’s treasurer, Charles Parker Stewart, cut his botanical teeth while working at the orchards and would go on to become a Professor of Botany at Howard University. With the plant samples he had collected still being used today.
The legacy of Barrow himself lived on with his son Charles who co-founded the first Black newspaper in Spokane, The Citizen, published by Charles Barrow, which chronicled the history of Spokane’s Black community. While Charles’ daughter Eleanor, would marry the first Black mayor of Spokane James Chase. As a tribute to Peter Barrow St., his likeness is featured prominently on the old printing press building of The Spokesman-Review on Monroe Street, a half-block north of Sprague Avenue in Spokane.
So, while the Deer Park Irrigated Orchard Company was not a permanent institution, its legacy provides a blueprint for our community today.
Bonus: Did You Know?
Rosa Malone, founded the Spokane’s Booker T. Washington Community Center, a place for Black people to congregate and spend leisure time. A graduate of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, she also helped establish a USO for Black Military in Spokane.
Source: “African Americans in Spokane” by Jerrelene Williamson