A take on city hall

(More than 100 years ago the citizens of a small village had a vision. They realized that the expansion of the railroad, the timber and mining business, made growth a necessity if their village was to survive. Thankfully, these men and women were willing to give of their time and talents to make the place once called, “Hang Town” into a law-abiding place now called Sandpoint. They saw that this could only be done by having a city government with a place to meet and that is where our story begins.)

The first City Hall stood on the east side of Sand Creek near the Northern Pacific railroad station. There were signs advertising chewing tobacco and Bull Durham smoking tobacco nailed to its walls. It was built in 1904 and the locals called it the “Apple Box.”

The jail, with its four cells, was on the lower floor and upstairs the City Council sat on plain pine benches and pondered such matters as a franchise for an electric light company, water works franchise, and Earl Farmin’s resolution to prohibit gambling.

Things got pretty busy for the council and more room was needed. The next few years saw a move to a wooden building that Mr. Farmin had built next to his barn on 1st Avenue and later the Star Market Hall was rented for conducting city business.

The growth of Sandpoint, from a village to a city, is evidenced by the fact that it went from the “Apple Box” to a new City Hall at Second and Main in seven years. This growth brought additional problems to the City Council. In September 1908, the Women’s Club appeared before the Council with requests to help beautify the small town. Mrs. L.D. McFarland spoke for the club and requested that the Council consider a “strict ordinance providing a penalty be passed forbidding people from expectorating on the sidewalks and in public places.” She encouraged the Council to see that citizens use “disinfectants in all needed places.”

The building at Second and Main met the needs of city government until 1994 when the City Council voted to buy the warehouse and office building of Coldwater Creek and the old City Hall was sold.

Wilma Allen, a long time resident, shares her memories of City Hall in the early days of Sandpoint. “The fire alarm system (a large bell) was in the dome on top of the building. The building housed the city offices as well as the fire and law enforcement offices. The top floor consisted of the library, the mayor’s office, the city clerk, and the offices of other city officials. There was a large area where all city meetings were held and it could accommodate at least 50 people. Back of this large room was the area that accommodated the firemen, those on duty and recreation for those off duty. The police office and the prisoner holding space were located on the bottom floor.”

“The large area (street level) facing Second Avenue housed the fire engines and the chief’s vehicle. There the equipment for the fire department was stored. North of the fire station there was a large parking area that extended from the City Hall to the building at the corner of Second and Cedar. This was used by the people coming into town as a place to tie up their horse and wagon, or buggy, to the rails.”  

Linda Hunt recalled in the 1950s, when she was a Girl Scout, going up in the Cupola on City Hall and watching for enemy aircraft. She had various identification charts with her but said she never saw an enemy aircraft but she remembers the times the air force out of Spokane would make practice bombing runs on the long bridge.

Barbara Blood has good memories about the library on the second floor and the lounge that gave the women a place to meet and visit while their husbands were shopping in town. Barbara’s son, Ben, was a fireman and she recalled their living quarters on the second floor as a long row of beds with each man having a closet. She said, “They had a large kitchen and I remember there was a pole that the men slid down to get to the fire trucks. It was a fun place to visit.”