Earlier this century, Hillyard was home to blue-collar workers who walked to jobs at the nearby railroad yards and roundhouse. Those glory days still provide some local color. But the steady, solid jobs that railroading once provided have faded into history like the noontime lunch whistle. Poverty has grown more visible in recent years. Many of the small, wood-sided homes bordering Bemiss Elementary are peeling paint.
Asphalt gives way to gravel at back alleys.
Front yards are more likely to sport chain-link fences than flower gardens. Two housing projects provide subsidized shelter. Immigrants from Russia and Ukraine have recently found homes in the neighborhood, bringing an influx of schoolchildren for whom English is a new language and Spokane a new world. Many families are in transition, packing up children and possessions when relationships fray or bill collectors close in. Every year, one-third of the Bemiss enrollment turns over.