The Ghost of Lidgerwood
By Bill Harms
Boo! Was that the Ghost of Lidgerwood who haunts the halls of Lidgerwood Elementary School in Spokane? According to legend, the ghost was a young radio technician named Donald van Dusen, who died in an electrocution accident in a building that housed the transmitter for Radio Station KGA at 325 East Rowan Avenue. A newspaper account at the time stated that he died while working on the transmitter. He left behind a young widow and an unborn baby.
Mrs. Van Dusen sued Washington State to receive a monthly allowance of $47.50 for her and her baby. However, the judge presiding in this case ruled that she was not entitled to receive the allowance because the law stated that this type of accident was not covered under the then state industrial insurance act. The insurance act excluded activities which engaged in interstate commerce, which KGA engaged in as it could be regularly heard in Northern Idaho. In his ruling, the judge noted that his hands were tied because of the way the act was written.
(By permission of the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, Spokane, Washington. No further publication of this without permission is permitted.)
To understand the connection between the KGA transmitter building and Lidgerwood Elementary, let's look at the history of the site. KGA first used the building on this site to house its transmitter between 1927 and 1942. By the 1950's Spokane Public Schools acquired the lot and the building, and converted the transmitter building into a service core which housed a boiler and other utilities. Two wings were added to the service core when the school was built. In 2005, the entire school, including the service core, was razed, and a brand new school was built in its place.
(KGA Lidgerwood transmitter building. 2005. © philcobill.com)
Does Donald van Dusen's ghost still haunt the halls of Lidgerwood because of the way his widow and baby were treated? You be the judge. Boo!
Compiled and edited by Bill Harms - updated 30 April 2009
SOURCES:
- "Construction Update Newsletter: For the Lidgerwood School Community." April 2005. From www.spokaneschools.org.
- "First Class for 100 Years: Spokane Public Schools, School District 81, 1889-1989."
- Partlow and Jorgenson. Notes for "Early Days of Spokane Radio, 1981." Used by permission of Dean Carriveau, Spokane, Washin gton
- "Widow of Radio Victim Loses." Spokesman-Review. Spokane Washington. 20 November 1929.
