Spirit Lake history, Part 9
Editor’s note: This is the ninth in a series of articles exploring the history of Spirit Lake and its environs as the community nears its centennial in August. Spirit Lake native Keith Spencer became interested in local history when he came across some old photographs while remodeling his home. He and his wife, Janette, researched the photos’ origins, began collecting old documents for posterity and now can’t seem to stop.
Spirit Lake Centennial series
“Kootenai County is about to have another town! The plat of the new town site of Spirit Lake will be filed today and the lots put on the market. Few towns start under brighter auspices or have a better future before it than has this one. It is on the new Blackwell Road and will be the principal city on that line. It is admirably situated on Spirit Lake, one of the prettiest lakes in the county….”
These words, from the Oct. 4, 1907, Coeur d’Alene Journal, aptly describe the founding of Spirit Lake. It is a town with a rich and unique history. It also has experienced great prosperity as well as desperate times, and it was, and still is, an area of picturesque beauty. There are few places where transportation, major industry and tourism link up into such a perfect package. In building Spirit Lake, Frederick A. Blackwell created such a jewel, though it is apparent his interest was totally focused on logging, milling and railroading – in short, making money! Fortunately, he was smart enough to recognize the benefits of aesthetics and tourism and will always be credited with utilizing every opportunity to advance the many charms of the Spirit Lake area.
Let’s start at the beginning. Section 5, Township 53 was granted by the U. S. Government in 1885 to the Northern Pacific Railroad, one of the land grant roads being provided substantial properties aimed at encouraging the building of the transcontinental railroads. In 1904 and in deep financial trouble, NP sold all of Section 5 to Marion Wharton, who at the time owned much property in the area. This is the same Marion Wharton written about in an earlier column, who had two great loves: Spirit Lake and land speculation. In June 1907, Wharton sold all of Section 5 to Blackwell’s newly formed Panhandle Lumber Company Limited.
Section 5 sat on a level bench near the north corner of the terminal moraine of an ancient glacier. The bench, which then supported a virgin forest of yellow pine and Douglas fir, was 100 feet higher then and provided a sweeping view of the lake, soaring Mount Spokane and what was to become the spacious Panhandle industrial complex and millpond. Blackwell viewed this spot as the perfect place to build his city.
Blackwell decided early to incorporate his empire into a number of separate units. This was likely to protect the other portions in case one or two experienced financial difficulties, which happened to the Idaho and Washington Northern Railroad. As such, it is often difficult to tell which portion of his empire actually accomplished any particular task at any particular time. It is safe to say that once the I&WN Railroad reached Spirit Lake, work on the Panhandle Mill, the platting and building of Spirit Lake, and construction of the railroad yards started simultaneously and at a furious pace. All aspects of this construction were completed in an eight-month period (including three months of very snowy winter), making Spirit Lake distinctive in still another way. Few places are changed from isolated wilderness and virgin forest into a modern town and industrial complex in such a short period of time. Obviously, little grass grew under Blackwell’s feet.
As usual, Blackwell, with his deep-pocketed financial backers, planned for the new city to be provided with nothing but the best. All streets would be graded and provided with concrete sidewalks. Water and sewer systems were to be installed, with hook-up provisions for each lot. Electrical power, including arc-light streetlights, was to be provided, and power actually came on in early 1908. The surrounding area didn’t obtain power until 1914. The plan also included the construction of two parks, a ball field and a cemetery. Minimum standards for home and building construction were documented and imposed as covenants to the property deeds. There would be no junk built in this town!
Once platted, and with Maine Street already under construction, Section 5 was deeded to another newly formed Blackwell enterprise, The Spirit Lake Land Company, which sold the first Lot to Henry Krech for $200 on Oct. 3, 1907. This plat must have been really hot property – by the end of October, 300 lots worth more than $60,000 had been sold and construction of the town was proceeding at a frenetic pace. This included a contract by the SLLC to build 25 modern and quality homes to get things started.
The SLLC office was the first building, and Krech’s mercantile, Joe Barney’s restaurant, M.J. Williams’ meat market and F.E. Girton’s confectionery/cigar store were soon to follow. The initial construction was pretty bare-bones, but as if by magic, a concrete block and a brick factory immediately relocated to Spirit Lake.The rickety clapboard structures disappeared, quickly replaced with handsome brick and block structures. Most still survive, and this small city in its centennial year looks nearly the same as it did 100 years ago. Despite a serious financial downturn around the nation, newly created Spirit Lake oozed with enthusiasm and progress and before the end of January, the 10,000 Club had been organized. This group, composed of the leading businessmen in the rapidly growing community, aimed at promoting everything Spirit Lake had to offer. They believed that the city would eventually grow to a population of 10,000 and would become the largest city in North Idaho. This didn’t happen, but in its glory years, its population did grow to nearly 3,000, while years later, in lean times, the sign at the edge of town showed 693 souls – Spirit Lake was nearly a ghost town.
Legend has it that at one point Spirit Lake boasted of 19 saloons. Prostitution is another matter. Despite this being a logging town with many single men living in the numerous hotels, no documentation has been found that proves that Spirit Lake had much of a red light district. Rumors indicate that there was a place or two across the tracks and that the ladies of the night probably plied their trade in some of the many hotels in town. However, this place was no Wallace! The city seemed to attract top-quality individuals and lots of families looking for prosperity.
As a case in point, Henry Krech ran a successful department store and was county assessor in Okanogan County before coming to Spirit Lake. Fred Grinnel, vice president of the Bank of Spirit Lake, operated the largest real estate firm in Spokane, while Charles Heitman was a leading attorney in Kootenai County. Dr. Earle Prindle, who built the hospital, was a leading physician and, of course, Blackwell was a multimillionaire.
The village of Spirit Lake could easily have become a company town, but it didn’t. While the SLLC built a few homes and provided property for parks, a school and the cemetery, there was no company store and nearly all the businesses and homes were privately owned and operated. At its grandest, the town sported a business district far bigger than its size would seem to require, yet most businesses seemed to prosper. From the start, Spirit Lake was a first-class little city.