Originally known to Hudson's Bay Company fur traders as Horse Plains or Wild Horse Prairie, the area was chosen as the Great Northern Railway expanded across Montana, Idaho, and Washington in the late 1800's because James J. Hill sought a site that would avoid municipal taxation by the City of Spokane. The first Great Northern train arrived in May 1892, and on October 25, 1892, Leland D. and Kate C. Westfall platted a township five miles northeast of Spokane Falls for 5,000 people, naming it Hill's Yard in honor of James Hill. Built around the Great Northern Railroad, within three years the community had 486 residents, a hotel, three churches, and six saloons, while the railroad maintained a 20-stall engine house, paint shop, car shop, blacksmith shop, boiler shop, machine shop, storehouse, and many offices. In 1895, an incorporation measure passed by a 45 to 44 vote, but James Hill came to town and threatened that unless the incorporation was vacated, only empty buildings would be left by April 1, 1896, and the effort collapsed. The town remained separate until 1904, when residents adopted a compromise by incorporating Hillyard while leaving the massive rail yards and shops outside the incorporation area. By 1924 Spokane had grown to Hillyard's borders, and although voters first rejected annexation in March by 600 to 595, a second election in September approved joining Spokane by 808 to 681. James Hill had died in 1916, but the Great Northern shops still remained outside the city limits.