Nine Mile Falls is an unincorporated community in Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is located 9 miles (or 16 miles downstream on the winding river) from downtown Spokane, at the location of the now non-existent falls on the Spokane River. The Nine Mile Falls Dam was built by Spokane & Inland Empire Railroad on the site of the falls in 1908. Washington Water Power (now Avista) purchased the site in 1925. The Spokane River and the Little Spokane River converge at Nine Mile Falls to help create Long Lake. There is still some dispute as to whether the lake's name should be Long Lake or Lake Spokane, but residents of Nine Mile Falls stand by the Long Lake name. Nine Mile Falls is also the site of the historic Spokane House trading post, established in 1810. Spokane House was one of the first white settlements in the area. The west head of the Spokane River Centennial Trail is at Sontag Park in Nine Mile Falls. Nine Miles Falls was the location of the book, The Fortunes of Indigo Skye, although the author placed it in the wrong part of Washington. The community offers four schools: two elementary schools, one middle school and a high school. Both Lakeside High school and Lakeside Middle school are home to the Eagles. Lake Spokane Elementary and Nine Mile Falls Elementary are elementary schools in the community.