Jennestad's fountain attracted youngsters

(On Jan. 2, 2001, Erik Daarstad and I were at the home of Jane and Frank Evans doing an interview for the “Sandpoint Centennial” movie. I asked Jane to tell us about some of the places in Sandpoint that brought back special memories. Today, she does just that — with a little help from her best friend, Frank.)

Jane: Let’s start with Farmin School because Farmin was a great old school. You went up these broad steps to the first floor and there overseeing the whole hallway was that wonderful statue of Abraham Lincoln that is now in the library. The grade school was downstairs and the seventh- and eighth-grades were upstairs where Charlie’s (Stidwell) office was.

One of the things I remember about Farmin School is right next door, in that little triangle where they now park small cars, was a horse trough with hitching posts. I recall that the trolley tracks went down Main Street and right by the school. We would leave the school, run across the street by the City Hall, and into the back door of Jennestad’s. Jennestad’s was a wonderful men’s store, and women, right on the corner across from the Panida Theater. We would go in through these giant racks of men’s clothes and on to the water fountain.

Fresh water ran all the time and there was a little step stool there so the kids could get the water. Then we would go out Jennestad’s front door and down First Avenue for about four doors to Nieman’s Floral. They had a little ice cream parlor in Nieman’s with little white enamel wrought iron chairs and tables. It was a wonderful spot.

Question: What happened to Farmin School?

Frank: They knocked it down.

Jane: Yep, they just, you know the state, put in all kind of rules and regulations about schools that they shouldn’t be three stories high, that they were fire traps, and they were not suitable for children. So, that was part of the reason they were getting rid of the big schools and trying to get down to one floor.

Washington School, over here on Boyer, was shaken pretty badly in the 1962 earthquake that hit Yellowstone Park and killed some people in the park. It shook the chimney and some of the bricks off Washington School over there. So that building, the top two floors came off, and the bottom floor is what is left today, with additions spreading out. Washington was at one time a three-story school. That’s where I started school, before I moved to Farmin.

Oh boy! The Panida Newsstand was another great spot. It was a door away from the Panida. It was one of the buildings that had a big fire, I think. There’s a picture in the Panida Theater about it. The Panida Newsstand had everything in it, you know. They had everything from newspapers to magazines, cigars to odds and ends, and a few groceries. It was a neat little place, but it burned. They were very worried about the theater at the time for fear that it would catch fire too.

It was nice to save it. Ross Hall has a wonderful picture of that fire.

Jane: Let’s pause a minute while I think about other buildings. There was a hotel where Taylor Parker’s parking lot is now; it was a grand hotel. I can’t remember …

Frank: That was the Ponderay, wasn’t it? They called it the Ponderay Hotel.

Jane: The Ponderay Hotel, yeah. It was really quite elegant in the beginning. It belonged to the Schaffer family, but most of them are not here anymore. The hotel had a front desk and an elevator to the rooms and I can remember staying there when we first came to town. It had a toilet in the bathroom and the bathtub had great claw feet. Patrick’s Cafe was next door to the hotel and Lee Eng’s Chinese Restaurant was nearby. It was quite a hotel, but it was eventually torn down.

Question: How have you seen the town change? It was self-contained for many years, what changes have you seen?

Jane: Well you know it was mostly lumber, with the Humbird Mill and other mills. Many of the Scandinavians that came here were lumber workers and mill workers.

Frank: It was the main industry at that time.

Jane: I remember dad told me that they provided the tires for the lumber wagons at the Humbird Mill and they were hard. They didn’t have any tires like those that we have today, no air, they were all hard rubber. Humbird Mill would have to come to my dad and buy those tires and they would wear them out in about three months. Then they would have to get new sets for all their wagons; they were big heavy things.

Question: Jane, in every little town that I have been in there is usually a character or two. Do you remember any characters around Sandpoint?

Jane: Yes, Willy. Willy just appeared every summer. He never wore anything but a pair of shorts and he never wore shoes. Everybody knew him. I don’t know what ever became of him; he was an original nature boy.

Jane: Sandpoint is the best place in the world to live; I wouldn’t want to be anyplace else.

Frank agrees through a series of vigorous up and down headshakes.