Bonner County History - Dec. 13, 2022
Brought to you by the
Bonner County Historical
Society and Museum
611 S. Ella Ave., Sandpoint, Idaho, 83864
208-263-2344
50 Years Ago
Sandpoint News-Bulletin
Dec. 13, 1972 — THE HISTORICAL LOG
Many Bonner County residents are familiar with Seneacquoteen, site of a famous Pend Oreille River crossing. But few are aware that in earlier days it was a favored location for picnics and baseball games. The Hope Examiner, an early area newspaper, carried a story recounting a May 1897 excursion from Hope to Seneacquoteen aboard the old wood-burning steamer “Prescott.” The boat stopped at Sandpoint where others joined the picnic-bound Hope residents, then continued downriver to Seneacquoteen where lunch baskets were unloaded and those living in the area joined in the fun. A baseball game followed the picnic and the Examiner, with a touch of local pride, reported that Hope won by a score of 22 to 7. The Hope Examiner a year earlier reported how Hope was named. According to its editor, there was a settlement at Ellisport during the construction of the Northern Pacific railroad, but the area thereabouts “was almost uninhabited except by Indians.” A doctor named Hope was stationed in the area and any man injured between Sandpoint and Heron was sent to him for treatment. “Take him over to Hope” was the cry when a railroad worker was injured. As additional settlement sprang up, the area became known as Hope in honor of the doctor who patched up the injured. The name stuck and when the railroad installed spur tracks and established a station there, the village which built up around it was named Hope. (Source material supplied as a public service by the Bonner County Historical Society).
100 Years Ago
Northern Idaho News
Dec. 13, 1922 — NORTH WIND BLOWS GALE
Winter came abruptly to the northwest last week, after one of the finest autumns ever. Though some snow had fallen, it was not until Tuesday last that rising wind and falling temperature really ushered in winter. A gale blew Tuesday night, wrecking beyond repair the big welcome arch at the west approach of the Cedar street bridge, erected three years ago for the home coming of Sandpoint’s soldier boys. All of Wednesday the wind continued, the weather so bad that no attempt was made to remove the wreckage, although it obstructed traffic over the Cedar street bridge. Thursday the wind subsided but Friday a snowstorm set in which lasted until Sunday morning, adding 27 inches to that of previous storms and making a total fall of 37 inches. This morning (Tues., Dec. 12, 1922) broke all known records of this locality for cold, when the thermometer registered 25 degrees below at 1:30 a.m.
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LEGION NOT FOR COMMUNITY HALL
At Monday’s American Legion meeting, it was decided not to join the move for erection of a public hall. Principal reasons were: 1) with no rights as an organization in the building, their use of it would always be subject to the will of those in control; 2) the Legion now owns a home sufficient to its needs; 3) lending support to promote the hall might cause friends of the Legion to give more generously than otherwise, believing they were giving to the Legion.
For more information, visit the museum online at bonnercountyhistory.org.