Posts Tagged With: Interstate 90

Kellogg, ID September 4

Staying in the Silver Valley, we journeyed a full 10 miles to Wallace Idaho, population 800. Over the next several hours we learned that Wallace is the Center of the Universe, a party town, and the town that fought the feds and won. Of course we only discovered this because the day was rainy and we dumped our planned bike ride to avoid being splattered with mud. The Ride the Hiawatha trail could have been amazing under better conditions. Possibly we could have completed this 14 mile, mainly downhill ride thru tunnels on a gravel trail, but it would have been something we endured, rather than enjoyed. The trail is an abandoned railroad line.

Our first stop was the Northern Pacific Railway Depot. The NP was a major player in the history of the West. The depot is now a museum with interesting displays on the Northern Pacific and life in Wallace. Several tidbits were picked up here. First, the term “closing the loop”. Telegrams for people on trains passing by, but which were not stopping in Wallace, were put on a pole with a loop on it, the train would slow down, and the message grabbed by a train employee and given to the passenger.

Wallace, with only 800 residents, sponsors 23 festivals and events during the year. The numerous events keeps the bars and restaurants hopping. This Labor Day weekend was one of them, The Under the Freeway Flea Market is a fund raiser for the NP Depot Foundation. Over 80 vendors were lined up underneath the Interstate 90 freeway bridge, which runs continuously for 4500 feet.

We walked from one end of the vendor line up to the other. While we did buy a few minor items, the merchandise best reflected items from Grandma’s attic and Grandpa’s barn. Given the rainy weather, the viaduct was an appreciated protection from the elements.

The interstate highway system was authorized in 1956. Interstate 90 would run from Boston to Seattle, 3081 miles long. The initial planning for Interstate 90 through Idaho started in the 1960s. In 1970, construction was nearing both ends of Wallace. I-90 was originally planned to run right where Wallace is situated. The town would be bought out, probably not costing all that much. Residents would be relocated and most likely there would have been a nice plaque somewhere. People in Wallace were not pleased. They undertook a two pronged battle plan. First, lawsuits and injunctions were filed to give them some time to implement phase two.

Phase two was getting every single building in Wallace on the National Register of Historic Places. The Federal Highway Administration has to minimize impact to such places and the vast number of historic properties in Wallace resulted in an elevated highway that only needed one building to be moved- the Northern Pacific Depot. The people here are quite proud of that. Prior to the completion of the elevated highway in 1991, this one mile segment necessitated interstate drivers to exit the freeway, drive through town, probably stop at the only traffic signal on Interstate 90 between Boston and Seattle, and return to the interstate. That last traffic signal? It was removed in a grand ceremony involving pall bearers and a glass hearse is now on display in a local museum (which was closed today).

Wallace has two nearby ski resorts and numerous biking trails. I thought it was fascinating that one of them, the Trail of the Couer d’Alene’s, is quite clear that one should stay on the paved trail to be healthy. In their words: “Common industry practices of the time and natural processes like flooding, caused heavy metal contaminants to be spread throughout the Basin. Environmental cleanup has been ongoing for decades. … Heavy metals that pose a risk to human health are still encountered along shorelines, floodplains, and historic mine and mill sites.”

We had lunch at the Blackboard Cafe-and bakery and bookstore. Chris of course struck up a conversation with a Canadian woman who is doing some traveling after selling her home in Vancouver before settling down near her daughter in Edmonton.

Another unusual Wallace feature was the purple manhole in the intersection of two streets that is “The Center of the Universe”. In 2004, the Mayor of Wallace declared it to be the center of the universe because it can’t be proven otherwise. This little bit of whimsy is celebrated each year, In 2023 the celebration will be held Sept. 16.

After lunch we drove along one short highway up into the mountains, Burke Canyon, where the reclamation process is still ongoing. The town of Burke is extremely narrow. During mining days in the late 1800s, the Tiger Hotel in Burke had to be built over the creek and a set of railroad tracks and the only highway had to be built through the hotel.

Returning to Wallace we viewed several of the wooden stairs that were constructed to allow people to reach homes built on the mountain sides where it was too narrow to construct streets. The public stairs were first constructed in 1909 and are still maintained and used today.

Ed and Chris, Kellogg ID Sept. 4